Man sentenced in Columbia restaurant shooting

LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) - A Richland County man has been sentenced to life in prison for a shooting death at a Columbia-area restaurant.

Prosecutor Donnie Myers says 22-year-old Gonzales Wardlaw was sentenced Friday after a jury found him guilty of murder.

Twenty-one-year-old Thomas Hoefer was shot once in the chest as he was waiting to eat at an Olive Garden restaurant in December 2011. He died on the way to the hospital.

Witnesses testified that Wardlaw met Hoefer at the restaurant to purchase marijuana. They said Wardlaw was unhappy with the type of marijuana, shot Hoefer and fled.

At the home where Wardlaw was staying, police later found rap lyrics including “hit ’em in his chest” and “caught ’em at da Olive Garden.”