Posted on 01/20/2006 9:14:01 AM PST by barj
Police testimony at hearing for surviving suspect describes home invasion By GLENDA ANDERSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
CLEARLAKE - Two men killed during a home-invasion robbery last month were shot from behind, police testified Wednesday during a preliminary hearing for the lone surviving suspect.
Shannon Edmonds of Clearlake, who police say shot the two men seven times, hasn't been charged with a crime.
Investigators say Edmonds opened fire with a 9mm handgun after three men smashed a glass door, entered his home, punched his girlfriend and hit her 17-year-old son on the head with a metal baseball bat.
Police believe the robbers were looking for marijuana.
Edmonds said he was protecting his family but the mother of Rashad Williams of Pittsburg, one of the men shot to death, said she wasn't convinced.
"This man shot my son in cold blood," Sheila Burton said Wednesday during a break in the hearing, noting that Williams, 21, and Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco were shot from behind.
Police confirmed her statement in their testimony.
The hearing, which continues today, will determine whether Renato Hughes Jr., 21, of San Francisco is held for trial. He was arrested a few hours after the shooting at the nearby home of Williams' grandmother.
Hughes, who wasn't injured, is charged with murder, attempted murder, home invasion robbery and other felonies. Under state law, he can be held liable for the deaths of Foster and Williams if they were killed while committing a crime.
Police testified that Williams was shot twice in the back and Foster was shot five times, three times in the leg and twice in the torso. The men fell about 30 feet from Edmonds' home.
Hughes has been tied to the robbery by blood-spattered jeans and a shirt found at the home of Williams' grandmother. His wallet was found inside a car belonging to Foster's father, which was parked near Edmonds' home.
Edmonds, 31, was questioned after the Dec. 7 shooting and prosecutors say they haven't decided whether he will be charged with a crime.
Hughes' attorney is seeking to compel him to testify during the preliminary hearing.
Police testified that there were five, gallon-sized bags of processed marijuana in Edmonds' house, along with a half-bucket of freshly picked pot.
Edmonds has said that he is a certified user of marijuana for medical purposes.
According to autopsy reports, Foster and Williams had THC, a component of marijuana, in their systems, Lake County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Russ Perdock said.
Police say the men were armed with a shotgun and a baseball bat when they entered Edmonds' home.
The shotgun hasn't been found though the bat was recovered at Edmonds' home.
Dale Lafferty, the son of Edmonds' girlfriend, was in a coma for weeks after the baseball bat attack, relatives said.
He now appears to be conscious but is unable to walk or communicate, according to grandparents Frank and Debbie Kester, who attended Wednesday's hearing.
Edmonds' girlfriend, Lorie Tyler, told police she was awakened by a crash, then screamed to awaken Edmonds as two men entered their bedroom.
One man threw her on the floor and punched her in the face several times while Edmonds tried to wrestle the shotgun away from the other man, according to police testimony.
Tyler got free and ran to the living room for the phone. While she was there, one of the robbers reportedly demanded: "Where's the weed?"
Hughes' mother, Judy Hughes, said there's no proof her son was at Edmonds' home, a contention being pursued by defense attorney Stephen Carter.
"We believe in my brother's innocence," said Hughes' sister, Eleva Hughes, who teaches seventh grade in San Francisco.
Like Williams and Foster, she said, Hughes went to good schools, was brought up with good family values and was set to succeed in life.
He was active in several youth and community groups in San Francisco, she said.
Here are other follow-up stories:
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/NEWS/601180306/1033/NEWS01
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS/601130330/OPINIONSPECIAL01
And the original:
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051207/NEWS/51207006/1033/NEWS01
I don't care if he shot them from behind as they were running down the street a month after the crime. The scum got what they deserved.
Where's the father?
Sowing seeds.
Well I think he should be charged with failing to kill all three. Sentence him to some hard time on the shooting range and maybe he won't let this happen again.
same old BS. we have a recent murder here in MN where the son helped murder his mother in a idiotic attempt to get life insurance. his attorney and parents says the same crap about him ,too.
From the front, back, bottom or from an altitude of 1000', IT'S ALL GOOD.
"My baby didn't hurt NOBODY!"
Burton or Williams.
The difference in the last name says it all.
She's probably got a Jones and a Smith at home, as well.
And he assumed from this that their intentions might be hostile...
I agree with you - especially after the damage they did to the 17-year old. Just because the perps' reflexes allowed them to turn away from the gun doesn't mean you can't kill them after that kind of attack. In fact, I believe that had it been me, I would have been willing to run after them and shoot them wherever I finally caught up. I'm really happy that Mississippi finally got around to letting people to use deadly force without having to try to "give peace a chance".
Amen to that. If someone as much as laid one finger on my daughter with malicious intent, I'd kill them no matter where I got a hold of him, with my bare hands preferably.
"My baby didn't hurt NOBODY!"
Let me guess, they were from The Welcome Wagon?
Dear Ms.Burton: If your son wouldn't have placed himself in this situation in the first place, he wouldn't have been shot. If your son would have chosen to be a productive member of society rather than a criminal he wouldn't have been shot. She must be a Liberal -- blame someone else.
I've always thought that the whole "shot in the back" thing, in relation to self defense, was a cannard. The people who "initiated" force started the whole thing. They reap what they sow.
Hurt my wife or children and I WILL hunt you down. Hang the law...
"give peace a chance".
Peace is good. It comes out of the end of a gun barrel.
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