Crime & Safety
Jury Selection Suspended for Trio Accused in Teen's Murder
Sheriff's investigators allege the defendants were walking to a liquor store when they attacked and killed the 16-year-old Hemet boy.
By City News Service:
Jury selection will not resume until at least the end of the month for the trial of a parolee and two alleged accomplices accused in the robbery-motivated murder of a Hemet teen because of an appellate court order that the proceedings be delayed until the defendants’ attorneys are better prepared.
Francisco Roy Zavala, 22, of Hemet, Francisco Siordia, 19, of San Jacinto and Joseph Venegas, 17, of Hemet are accused in the Jan. 14, 2013, slaying of 16-year-old Eric Ronald Sargeant Jr. All three defendants are charged with murder and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery.
After Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon refused to entertain motions for a postponement, the trio’s lawyers filed a request earlier this month with the 4th District Court of Appeal, asking that trial activity be suspended due to scheduling conflicts that were preventing them from devoting sufficient time to preparing their clients’ cases.
The appeals court issued a temporary stay, halting jury selection. A status hearing is set on April 27 to determine whether proceedings may resume.
Zavala is being held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta. Siordia and Venegas are being held at Murrieta Juvenile Hall.
Zavala is facing the death penalty if convicted; his co-defendants, who were minors at the time of the crime, are facing life in prison without parole.
Sargeant was stabbed nine to 10 times near the intersection of Acacia Avenue and Cherrywood Drive, only a couple of blocks from his home. Sheriff’s investigators allege the defendants were walking to a liquor store when they spotted victim alone, talking or texting on his phone.
The trio confronted him, demanding that he hand over the device, but Sargeant refused, at which point Zavala pulled a seven-inch kitchen knife and began slashing and stabbing the victim, witnesses and investigators alleged.
Sargeant was stabbed twice in the upper chest and had a number of defensive wounds. He collapsed into a gutter after the attack, and passers-by came to his aid. The alleged assailants fled -- Siordia and Venegas to a relative’s house a half-mile away, and Zavala to his family’s residence in the same area, according to investigators.
Sargeant lived another five hours and was able to briefly speak with detectives prior to going into surgery, according to Deputy District Attorney Dan DeLimon. The teen died on the operating table.
The defendants are all distantly related. During interviews with detectives, Siordia and Venegas both pointed to Zavala as the alleged aggressor in the attack and claimed they were not aware of what he planned to do, according to the prosecution.
Court records show Zavala has a 2011 conviction for burglary and a 2010 conviction for vandalism.
(Image via Shutterstock)
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