A man who killed a USC jazz student during an attempted robbery just blocks from the university campus six years ago was sentenced on Monday, May 12, to 35 years to life in state prison.
Ivan Hernandez, 29, pleaded no contest in January to first-degree murder in the March 10, 2019, killing of 21-year-old Victor McElhaney, whose mother was a member of the Oakland City Council.
McElhaney was shot in the head just after midnight near Maple Avenue and Adams Boulevard and died at a hospital.
A student at USC’s Thornton School of Music, he was with friends when they were approached by three or four men in their 20s during an attempted robbery that led to the shooting, authorities said.
McElhaney mentored young musicians and taught at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.
Shortly after the killing, his mother, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, said her son “believed that music could heal the world of violence and sickness and addiction.”
The year after his death, USC announced the creation of the Victor McElhaney Memorial Jazz Drumming Endowed Scholarship, awarded annually to support an undergraduate drummer who reflects the spirit and ideals he represented.
McElhaney was an active member of USC’s Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, a member of the USC Thornton’s Afro Latin American Jazz Ensemble and various student combos.