Mest Singer Beats Murder Rap

29 March 2007 | 10:31 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Top down seat back..........

According to http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/



"The singer with defunct punk rock band Mest was freed from a Los

Angeles jail on Tuesday after prosecutors declined to prosecute him for

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stabbing to death a romantic rival two days earlier.

They

determined that Tony Lovato, 26, had acted in self-defense when he

stabbed Wayne Hughes with a pocketknife in the underground parking lot

of an apartment building in the suburb of Studio City on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office

said in a statement that Lovato and Hughes had dated the same woman

"back and forth for over a year," and that Hughes had sent threatening

messages to Lovato.

The tension climaxed on Sunday when Hughes

challenged Lovato to a fight, and Lovato tried to back off, the

spokeswoman said, adding "there was insufficient evidence to show there

was not a justifiable use of reasonable force in self defense."

Lovato, sporting a black eye from the fight, told reporters he was "not

doing too good. I just had the hardest three days of my life." He said

he would issue a statement on Friday."