13-YEAR-OLD SHOT HERSELF, WITNESS SAYS AT MURDER TRIAL.Byline: Karen Karen Any member of a variety of tribal peoples of southern Myanmar (Burma). Constituting the second largest minority in Myanmar, the Karen are not a unitary group in any ethnic sense, as they differ among themselves linguistically, religiously, and economically. Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - A relative of a 21-year-old ex-convict accused of shooting to death his 13-year-old girlfriend testified on the murder trial's opening day that she was told the girl shot herself during an argument. But ex-heroin addict Any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is so drawn to the use of such narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his or her drug use. Yolanda Mezey, the cousin of defendant Santino Eddie Casio's mother, also said she was told either by Casio or by someone else that he accidentally shot Evelyn Brenda Cendejas, a runaway and former Mesa Intermediate School student. Under questioning Monday by Deputy District Attorney Carlos Chung and Casio's attorney, Deputy Alternate Public Defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Avrum S. Harris, Mezey was at times not sure whether she heard statements about the killing directly from Casio or from other people. ``I got information off the street pretty much, that they had a play-fight argument, pulling back and forth on the gun and it went off,'' Mezey said. Casio, also known as Sonny son·ny n. pl. son·nies Used as a familiar form of address for a boy or young man. [Diminutive of son. , has pleaded not guilty to murdering Cendejas on June 8, 2002, in another relative's Lancaster duplex (communications) duplex - Used to describe a communications channel that can carry signals in both directions, in contrast to a simplex channel which only ever carries a signal in one direction. where the pair had been living after the girl ran away from home. Casio is also on trial on attempted-murder charges from two stabbings - one at a Lancaster nightclub and the other near a convenience store in Palmdale - to which he has pleaded not guilty. The girl was with Casio during both stabbings and smuggled smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. the knife into the nightclub in her pants, authorities said. At Casio's preliminary hearing in September 2002, a detective testified that Casio said he accidentally shot the victim while waving a shotgun shotgun: see small arms. shotgun Smoothbore shoulder firearm designed to fire a number of pellets, or shot, that cover a large target area after they leave the muzzle. It is used mainly against small game such as birds. and a pistol at her during an argument. But Mezey testified that she was told the girl shot herself. She said Casio said the girl told him to ``swear swear v. 1) to declare under oath that one will tell the truth (sometimes "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"). Failure to tell the truth, and do so knowingly, is the crime of perjury. on his varrio,'' or gang, and then said, ``Your varrio ain't (expletive).'' Casio said he pulled the trigger on a gun and nothing happened, Mezey said. The victim said, ``You think that scares me?'' and then pulled the trigger, shooting herself, Mezey said. In his opening statement, Chung said Casio shot and killed Cendejas after the pair had gone to a party and had an argument on and off throughout the night. ``They go back to their residence. At the location, the defendant uses a shotgun and shoots his girlfriend in the face. She dies and he runs off,'' Chung said. Harris in his opening statement questioned whether Casio had showed an intent to kill. ``The 'People' said he murdered her. That is a legal conclusion for you to decide,'' Harris told jurors. ``You will have to decide whether his intent was to kill her at the time he pulled the trigger.'' Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) CASIO (2 -- color) CENDEJAS |
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