Jury cannot reach verdict in Desert Hot Springs park shooting trial
Jurors were unable to reach a verdict Monday in the attempted murder trial of a young man accused of opening fire on a group of skateboarders at a Desert Hot Springs park, wounding two.
The jury in the trial of Efrain Emanuel Hyman, 21, deliberated about two days before announcing it was hopelessly deadlocked on two counts of attempted murder stemming from the Nov. 12, 2015, shooting at Guy J. Tedesco Park in Desert Hot Springs.
Read: Tedesco Park shooting suspect arrested in New Jersey
A mistrial was declared. A Jan. 5 hearing was scheduled, at which point prosecutors will decide whether to proceed with a second trial.
Prosecutors allege that the shooting broke out following an argument between Hyman and the most seriously injured victim, Rahim Davis, who was shot in the head and suffers from impaired movement on the left side of his body to this day. Another man, Andrew Perkins, was shot in the shoulder and arm.
The two were sitting in bleachers near the skate park when Hyman, who was wrapped in a blanket, got into an argument with Davis, according to Deputy District Attorney Anne-Marie Lofthouse, who alleged that the defendant was angry that Davis wasn’t allowing Hyman’s “little homie” — an unidentified friend or family member — into the park.
She alleged that Hyman opened the blanket to reveal a firearm and fired six shots toward the crowd, hitting the two victims before making his getaway in a car.
Read: Trial begins for man accused of shooting two at Desert Hot Springs park
Lofthouse told jurors during her closing argument that there was no weapon displayed by the victims and no return fire once Hyman began shooting.
“This is about a defendant who had a bone to pick with Mr. Davis and he was not going to back down,” the prosecutor said.
Defense attorney Dennette McIntyre said the defendant and Davis had a history and alleged that Davis had threatened Hyman with violence in the past.
Davis was not just an “innocent bystander,” McIntyre said, alleging that Davis had pulled a gun on Hyman at a local library and shot at his house in the months prior to the park shooting.
Hyman also testified that he saw Davis reaching into a backpack at the park, where the handle of a gun was visible. No gun was found following the shooting, but McIntyre said police did not conduct a thorough enough investigation to determine that no gun existed.
Nonetheless, McIntyre argued that the presence of a weapon was less important than Hyman’s belief that the weapon existed and his right to defend himself against that threat.
“There is nothing in the law that says that he cannot defend himself,” McIntyre told jurors in her closing summation.
Davis, who testified that he’s “miserable every day” due to seizures and constant pain since the shooting, denied threatening Hyman and said he didn’t really know him or what exactly prompted the gunfire.
Hyman was arrested in New Jersey six months after the shooting on a $1 million warrant issued by a Riverside County Superior Court judge.
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
Find us on Facebook: KESQ News Channel 3 & CBS Local 2
Follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates: @KESQ & @Local2
We’re on Instagram! @KESQ_News_Channel_3 & @CBSLocal2
Noticias en español: Telemundo 15
