Trial Begins in Slaying of Oxnard Teenager
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A murder trial began Friday for 20-year-old Oxnard resident Donald Brown Jr., accused of beating a teenager to death last year.
The slaying of 17-year-old Jaime Morales on July 25 horrified a south Oxnard neighborhood.
The Oxnard teenager, a former gang member whom family members said was turning his life around, was chased by three men and beaten to death in an alley.
The sounds of the loud brawl alarmed residents in the area of Hill and N streets, who found Morales on the ground with injuries to his head and neck.
Although three men were arrested in connection with the crime, prosecutors only filed murder charges against Brown, who initially fled Ventura County and later turned himself in to authorities in Florida.
On Friday, Brown rocked in a chair at the defense table as Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Phillips questioned an Oxnard police detective who investigated the killing.
Among the evidence Phillips presented to the jury: a pair of bloody tennis shoes he claims Brown wore during the attack and used to stomp on Morales’ head.
The case is expected to continue next week.
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