California man sentenced in killing of professional dancer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man convicted of killing a professional dancer with an ax and leaving the body along a road in a forest northeast of Los Angeles has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

Twenty-two-year-old Phillip Von Wade pleaded no contest in April to first-degree murder in the 2016 killing of Rahkeem “Rocky” Reyes.

City News Service reports Wade was sentenced on Monday.

The two men were acquaintances. Prosecutors said Reyes had commissioned Wade to create a costume for the annual Comic-Con convention in San Diego, but Wade never completed it.

The dancer’s body was recovered five days after his car was found with its engine running and his wallet inside.