Man sentenced to prison for shooting Chinatown waiter

A 24-year-old man was sentenced to at least seven years in prison on Monday for shooting a waiter multiple times during an attempted robbery at a Chinatown restaurant.

Rashawn Gaston-Anderson pleaded guilty in November to felony counts of mayhem and attempted robbery for the shooting on Dec. 20, 2021, at the ShangHai Taste restaurant, located at 4266 W. Spring Mountain Road in Las Vegas’ Chinatown district.

The waiter, Chengyan Wang, survived the shooting and addressed District Judge Joseph Bonaventure during the sentencing hearing on Monday. Wang, who spoke through an interpreter, told the judge that Gaston-Anderson shot him more than 10 times.

“His criminal behavior is very inhuman, and he tried to murder me,” Wang said.

The victim said he is still unable to sleep at night and has been afraid to explain the shooting to his parents, who live in China.

Bonaventure sentenced the defendant to between seven and 18 years in prison. Prosecutors, defense attorneys and Wang agreed to the sentence as part of Gaston-Anderson’s plea agreement, said his defense attorney, Michael Troiano.

After Gaston-Anderson pleaded guilty last month, Troiano said in an emailed statement that the stipulated sentence was a “reasonable resolution.”

“At the outset of this case, there was a very real possibility that my client would be spending the rest of his natural life in prison,” Troiano said in November. “Thankfully, in this particular case the criminal justice system worked, and we are grateful that all parties took the appropriate time to work through this complex case.”

If the judge had deviated from the stipulated sentence, Gaston-Anderson could have withdrawn his guilty plea.

“I don’t know if it’s enough,” Bonaventure said about the penalty while addressing Wang on Monday. “You really suffered.”

Gaston-Anderson declined to give a statement to the judge.

Following the hearing, Wang said he could no longer work because of his injuries, and he is still dealing with the effects of the shooting.

“Physically, I’m kind of recovered,” he said, speaking through an interpreter. “However, my muscles and my nerves are still in pain, and I still am going through physical therapy right now.”

Wang told police last year that he was mopping the restaurant’s floor after hours when the gunman walked in through an unlocked back door and started talking to him. Wang could only understand the word “money,” according to an arrest report.

The waiter “stood there in shock” before the man pulled out a gun, shot him multiple times and ran away, the report said.

Gaston-Anderson was arrested at Desert Parkway Mental Health Facility about a week after the shooting, police have said.

As part of the guilty plea agreement, prosecutors indicated that they are not opposed to dismissing burglary, larceny, pandering and weapons charges that Gaston-Anderson faces in three other active cases.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.