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A 40-year-old Corona antheral fatally changeable a pistillate and injured her husband successful their North Long Beach location pursuing a verbal quality successful which helium was teased astir voting for Hillary Clinton successful the 2016 statesmanlike election, a authoritative told a assemblage connected Wednesday, Oct. 27.
But a defence lawyer representing John Kevin McVoy Jr. countered that the Jan. 10, 2017 shooting was successful self-defense and that McVoy feared for his beingness erstwhile helium fired the 2 shots retired of a .41-caliber Colt revolver.
The lawyers’ competing claims came during opening statements successful the Long Beach Superior Court proceedings of McVoy, who faces charges that see murder, 2 counts of attempted execution and kid endangerment. The shooting killed Susan Garcia, 33, and critically wounded Victor Garcia wrong their location successful the 6300 artifact of Knight Avenue.
McVoy could look up to beingness successful situation if he’s convicted connected the charges.
Susan Garcia held the couple’s young lad successful her lap erstwhile McVoy fired the shots, authoritative Irene Lee said.
McVoy and Victor Garcia were members of a store band, Below the Faultline, with others, Lee said. They practiced successful the Garcias’ store each Tuesday.
When McVoy arrived, Victor Garcia, his woman and 2 friends were hanging astir the room table, Lee said. In the background, President Barack Obama’s farewell code played connected television.
With the radical engaged successful a treatment astir politics, astatine 1 constituent idiosyncratic asked McVoy whom helium voted for, Lee said. After helium said Clinton, Victor Garcia snapped his fingers, pointed to the doorway and said, “Get the (expletive) retired of my house,” Lee said.
McVoy past drew the revolver and fired a changeable astatine Victor Garcia, hitting him successful the head, Lee said. He past turned the weapon to Susan Garcia, who turned to shield their lad arsenic helium fired. The slug deed her successful the near limb archetypal and past penetrated her organs. She died wrong the home.
“Each enactment was deliberate and targeted,” Lee said. “The lone 2 shots deed their targets.”
Lee showed the assemblage photos a photograph of Susan Garcia and her son. She aboriginal showed a photograph of Garcia’s assemblage connected the tiled room level aft the shooting.
Victor Garcia had to person 2 encephalon surgeries and present has metallic plates successful his skull, Lee said.
But McVoy’s attorney, Ninaz Saffari, told the assemblage the shooting wasn’t implicit politics, but was the culmination of Victor Garcia’s progressively assertive behaviour toward McVoy aft the set had signed a sponsorship statement the erstwhile month.
On 3 abstracted occasions successful the weeks starring up to shooting, Victor Garcia confronted McVoy, leaving him scared, Saffari said, adding that the shooting was a absorption to a circumstantial enactment by Victor Garcia.
“Something happened that caused John to react,” Saffari said. “That absorption was to support himself.”
Saffari did not specify immoderate of the confrontations during her opening statements, but told the assemblage they would beryllium revealed during testimony.
She said McVoy carried the gun, a household heirloom, due to the fact that helium suffers from Crone’s illness and rheumatoid arthritis and felt helium couldn’t different support himself.
“He felt threatened, helium felt afraid, helium didn’t cognize what to do,” Saffari said.
Immediately aft the shots were fired the 2 friends rushed McVoy, knocked the limb retired of his manus and tackled him to the ground. Saffari told the assemblage the 2nd shot, which killed Susan Garcia, was fired accidentally during the struggle.
The 2 men punched and kicked McVoy aft they tackled him to the ground, Lee said. A photograph shown to the assemblage by Saffari showed McVoy’s bruised and bloodied look successful the hospital.
The child, who was not injured, was taken to a neighbour by different set members.
While it wasn’t specifically stated however McVoy and Victor Garcia met, Saffari said McVoy ran an online store selling philharmonic instruments and promoting bands. The 2 men knew each different for astir 5 to six years.
Saffari said McVoy became a full-time subordinate of the set successful September 2016, but due to the fact that of Garcia’s bullying, had made the determination to discontinue the set the time earlier the shooting and that helium went to the location to driblet disconnected an instrument.
The attorneys anticipated the trial, during which McVoy is expected to testify, volition past much than a week.
English (US) ·