Trial begins for man accused of attempted murder in DHS

A Desert Hot Springs man shot a homeless friend without provocation after letting him sleep in his car for months, a prosecutor said Tuesday, but the defendant’s attorney said his client acted in self-defense.

Eric Deshon Brown, 35, is charged with attempted murder, mayhem, shooting at an occupied dwelling and assault with a gun in the April 3, 2015.

Brown is accused of shooting Eric Jones, a high-school friend that Brown had let sleep in his parked car in the driveway of his home in the 16000 block of Avenida Ramada, on the morning of April 3, 2015.

Jones, who suffered gunshot wounds to an arm, leg and hand, and a graze wound to the forehead, testified that he had made an arrangement with Brown to sleep in the defendant’s Lincoln Continental. He said the agreement angered Brown’s mother, who also lived at the home.

“His mom said that I couldn’t stay there,” Jones testified.

He said Brown’s mother had approached him once or twice regarding the matter, but the defendant had told him it was all right, as long as he came late and left early. But on April 3, according to Deputy District Attorney Brian Bolland, Brown woke Jones up about 6:45 a.m., opened the car door and immediately shot him in the arm.

Jones then stumbled out of the car and was shot by Brown in the leg before being forced at gunpoint to get into the house, the prosecutor alleged in his opening statement.

Jones testified that Brown held the gun to his head while forcing him toward the house, where he eventually collapsed in the front doorway, losing consciousness briefly. He said he then tried to run toward the street, where he again collapsed, and was discovered by neighbors who called police.

Jones said he did not remember how he sustained the additional gunshots to his hand or the graze wound to his forehead.

Defense attorney Bosky Kathuria alleged in his opening statement that it was actually Jones who initially drew the gun, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson, and that Brown wrestled the gun from Jones and shot him to protect himself.

“Jones drew his gun, but Brown didn’t run,” Kathuria told jurors. Kathuria alleged that Jones was drunk, angered over being told to leave and threatened to kill Brown and his mother if he was forced to go. Jones advanced toward Brown, prompting a scuffle over the gun and the first two gunshots to Jones’ arm and leg, according to the defense attorney.

“But he wouldn’t stop,” Kathuria said, alleging that Jones pursued Brown into the house, sustaining the additional gunshots as he approached the defendant and they fought over the gun for a second time in Brown’s doorway.

Jones denied threatening Brown or his mother with the gun, saying he had never seen the weapon before.

Witnesses said the shooter ran into a home in the 16200 block of Avenida Ramada, prompting a sheriff’s SWAT team search of the residence, but the suspect got away.

Brown’s family was pleading for him to turn himself in to authorities in May of 2015.

Brown was on the run for more than a month before he walked into the Palm Desert sheriff’s station and surrendered on the night of May 6.