Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 13, 2006 20:48:03 GMT -5
3 Plead Not Guilty in Road Rage Shooting
In Bentonville, prosecutors will ask for the death penalty not only for the man accused of pulling the trigger in a May road rage shooting, but also for the suspected driver.
Benton County Prosecutor Robin Green said an aggravating circumstance justifies seeking the death penalty against Manuel Enrique Camacho, 25, whom police believe was driving the car involved in the road rage incident in which Daniel Ray Francis, 32, of Little Flock was killed.
Police say Camacho encouraged a passenger, Serafin Sandoval-Vega, 19, to shoot at the car in which Francis was a passenger as it sat at a stoplight in Rogers. One bullet struck Francis, who died from his injuries.
After careful study and meeting with investigators and family members of the victim, we determined its appropriate to seek the death penalty against both defendants, Green said. Other lives were put in danger by their actions, an aggravating circumstance that under Arkansas law allows the death penalty to be sought, she said.
10 of Francis family members watched Monday as Camacho, Sandoval-Vega and Roxana Hernandez, 21, pleaded not guilty to charges related to the shooting before Benton County Circuit Judge David Clinger.
Police say Camacho drove the car, Hernandez rode in the front passenger seat and Sandoval-Vega rode in the back.
Camacho, an illegal alien, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to a terroristic act. He is believed to be active in the Surenos 13 gang from southern California, court documents state. He has a tattoo of the number 13 on his right forearm and 831 on his neck.
Serafin Sandoval-Vega, a resident alien, is charged with capital murder and committing a terroristic act.
Hernandez, 21, also a resident alien, is charged with being an accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to a terroristic act. Prosecutors could seek a life sentence in her case.
The 3 defendants are being held in the Benton County jail. Only Hernandez has been granted a bond, which Clinger set at $250,000.
Hernandez attorney, Marianne Hudson, also told the judge a detective went to the jail and took a statement from her client without her knowledge.
Hernandez contacted the Arkansas State Police herself, Green said. She promised to provide a copy of the interview with Hudson when she gets a copy.
An omnibus hearing in the case is set for Aug. 7 and a pretrial hearing for Oct. 10 before Circuit Judge Tom Keith, who will handle the case from now on.
According to court documents, Francis stopped that Saturday afternoon after a day of work as a diesel mechanic for J.B. Hunt to buy beer with his co-worker, Tracy Stith, 37. Stith was driving his red Acura as the pair pulled out of the parking lot of County Line Liquor in Springdale about 4:10 p.m., documents say.
A northbound black Honda Civic pulled close to the rear of the Acura, then passed, pulled in front of the Acura and slowed, according to an interview Stith gave police. Someone, possibly the driver, stuck his hand out the sunroof and gave us the bird, Stith told police.
Stith passed the Honda, pulled in front and applied his brakes. The cars separated, continuing north, until they stopped at a traffic signal at Pleasant Grove Road.
As the light turned green, the tinted rear window on the drivers side went down, the back-seat passenger stuck out a gun and fired three shots, one striking Francis, police reports stated. Stith followed the car long enough to get a license number from the Honda.
Francis was declared brain dead that evening but was kept on life support until early Monday morning to allow organ donation.
Bentonville police pulled over the Honda early that evening on Southwest Regional Airport Road. Camacho was driving, Hernandez rode in the passenger seat and Sandoval-Vega was in the back seat, reports state.
A box of ammunition with 10 to 12 rounds missing was found under the front passenger seat.
Sandoval-Vega admitted shooting the gun at the Acura under questioning, police said. He claimed Hernandez handed him the gun and that the others encouraged him to fire it.
(source: The Morning News)
In Bentonville, prosecutors will ask for the death penalty not only for the man accused of pulling the trigger in a May road rage shooting, but also for the suspected driver.
Benton County Prosecutor Robin Green said an aggravating circumstance justifies seeking the death penalty against Manuel Enrique Camacho, 25, whom police believe was driving the car involved in the road rage incident in which Daniel Ray Francis, 32, of Little Flock was killed.
Police say Camacho encouraged a passenger, Serafin Sandoval-Vega, 19, to shoot at the car in which Francis was a passenger as it sat at a stoplight in Rogers. One bullet struck Francis, who died from his injuries.
After careful study and meeting with investigators and family members of the victim, we determined its appropriate to seek the death penalty against both defendants, Green said. Other lives were put in danger by their actions, an aggravating circumstance that under Arkansas law allows the death penalty to be sought, she said.
10 of Francis family members watched Monday as Camacho, Sandoval-Vega and Roxana Hernandez, 21, pleaded not guilty to charges related to the shooting before Benton County Circuit Judge David Clinger.
Police say Camacho drove the car, Hernandez rode in the front passenger seat and Sandoval-Vega rode in the back.
Camacho, an illegal alien, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to a terroristic act. He is believed to be active in the Surenos 13 gang from southern California, court documents state. He has a tattoo of the number 13 on his right forearm and 831 on his neck.
Serafin Sandoval-Vega, a resident alien, is charged with capital murder and committing a terroristic act.
Hernandez, 21, also a resident alien, is charged with being an accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to a terroristic act. Prosecutors could seek a life sentence in her case.
The 3 defendants are being held in the Benton County jail. Only Hernandez has been granted a bond, which Clinger set at $250,000.
Hernandez attorney, Marianne Hudson, also told the judge a detective went to the jail and took a statement from her client without her knowledge.
Hernandez contacted the Arkansas State Police herself, Green said. She promised to provide a copy of the interview with Hudson when she gets a copy.
An omnibus hearing in the case is set for Aug. 7 and a pretrial hearing for Oct. 10 before Circuit Judge Tom Keith, who will handle the case from now on.
According to court documents, Francis stopped that Saturday afternoon after a day of work as a diesel mechanic for J.B. Hunt to buy beer with his co-worker, Tracy Stith, 37. Stith was driving his red Acura as the pair pulled out of the parking lot of County Line Liquor in Springdale about 4:10 p.m., documents say.
A northbound black Honda Civic pulled close to the rear of the Acura, then passed, pulled in front of the Acura and slowed, according to an interview Stith gave police. Someone, possibly the driver, stuck his hand out the sunroof and gave us the bird, Stith told police.
Stith passed the Honda, pulled in front and applied his brakes. The cars separated, continuing north, until they stopped at a traffic signal at Pleasant Grove Road.
As the light turned green, the tinted rear window on the drivers side went down, the back-seat passenger stuck out a gun and fired three shots, one striking Francis, police reports stated. Stith followed the car long enough to get a license number from the Honda.
Francis was declared brain dead that evening but was kept on life support until early Monday morning to allow organ donation.
Bentonville police pulled over the Honda early that evening on Southwest Regional Airport Road. Camacho was driving, Hernandez rode in the passenger seat and Sandoval-Vega was in the back seat, reports state.
A box of ammunition with 10 to 12 rounds missing was found under the front passenger seat.
Sandoval-Vega admitted shooting the gun at the Acura under questioning, police said. He claimed Hernandez handed him the gun and that the others encouraged him to fire it.
(source: The Morning News)