A 25-year-old male of Armenian descent named Hayk Yegnanyan died on April 3, 2010. He was identified as a white male and was among four men fatally shot at a Mediterranean-style eatery known as the Hot Spot café, located in the Valley Village/North Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California. The coroner’s office recorded his death at approximately 4:57 p.m. on that day.
The incident occurred during what was described as a memorial gathering, as the group had previously visited a gravesite to mourn a friend who had died in an auto crash.
Hayk Yegnanyan, the 25-year-old male, was one of four victims killed in the shooting. The others were a 26-year-old male Armenian named Sarkis Karadjian, a 28-year-old male Armenian named Harut Baburyan, and a 31-year-old male named Vardan Tofalyan. Three of the victims, including the 25-year-old male Hayk Yegnanyan, were pronounced dead at the scene; the fourth, Vardan Tofalyan, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital shortly thereafter. Two additional men were wounded; they survived the attack.
According to law enforcement, the volley of gunfire appeared intentional rather than random. Investigators at the time said that the shooting was not a spontaneous act of violence, emphasizing that the victims were targeted. Conflicting witness accounts complicated the initial investigation, and although ballistic evidence pointed to the possibility of multiple gunmen, and security footage failed to capture the shooter inside the café, LAPD detectives worked to piece together the scenario using recovered shell casings and eyewitness testimony.
A suspect, Nerses Arthur Galstyan, was subsequently arrested in connection with the killings. He was apprehended in April 2010 in Kenmore, Washington, after the mass shooting. Authorities later learned that the attacker had fired approximately fifty shots into the restaurant during the memorial gathering. It was established that Galstyan had left the restaurant after a dispute, retrieved a firearm from his vehicle, returned, and then opened fire. Ballistic analysis indicated that around thirty rounds struck one or more of the six individuals inside, with shots inflicted while the victims were seated or standing.
In criminal proceedings, the 25-year-old male victim, Hayk Yegnanyan, was among those listed in the murder charges. In March 2016, a jury convicted Nerses Arthur Galstyan of multiple charges: two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances one count of second-degree murder one count of voluntary manslaughter, along with charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and mayhem in relation to the surviving victims. The jury later recommended a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole, rather than the death penalty.
During the trial, Galstyan’s defense argued that he was the one being targeted. They claimed the 25-year-old male victim, Hayk Yegnanyan, had at one point pulled a knife on Galstyan’s brother outside the restaurant, prompting Galstyan to act in self-defense. The defense said Galstyan attempted to calm the situation and claimed that some of the others entered the café armed. Prosecutors countered that Galstyan entered the café already armed and opened fire deliberately, pausing only to reload before continuing to shoot until he expended all ammunition. The trial revealed alleged connections between some attendees and organized crime or illegal firearms activity.
Upon conviction, Galstyan received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. Appeals were later filed but ultimately denied; an appellate court upheld the conviction and decision to impose life imprisonment, affirming that the attack was unprovoked and deliberate. At sentencing, the judge noted the calculated nature of the attack, describing it as extremely violent and void of any reasonable justification. The court found that the defense narrative lacked credibility.
