Trial begins for Fresno man accused of ‘execution style’ murder during home invasion
Fresno County prosecutors say Damone Kiki Mayberry Jr. was looking for drugs and money the night he and an accomplice knocked on the studio apartment door of Lorenzo McCray.
McCray, they say, didn’t know what was coming. Police said Mayberry, 30, shot him in the back of the head, killing him.
Mayberry’s trial, where he’s accused of McCray’s murder and robbery, began Monday in Fresno County Superior Court.
He allegedly gunned down McCray, a 50-year-old collector of baseball hats and high-end clothes. Prosecutors also believe McCray was a drug dealer.
Prosecutor Nathan Lambert called McCray death an “execution-style” killing. He told jurors during opening statements that Mayberry and his accomplice, Gypsy Hall, entered McCray’s tiny southeast Fresno studio apartment in the early morning hours of Sept. 18, 2018 for one purpose: to steal drugs and money.
Hall, 30, had bought drugs from McCray before. So when she knocked on his security door, he recognized her and let her in. What McCray didn’t know is Mayberry was lurking just outside with a red bandanna around his face and a silver handgun in his hand, Lambert said.
Prosecutors believe as McCray started walking towards his kitchen to retrieve some marijuana, Mayberry came rushing in behind Hall.
McCray’s girlfriend was laying on the couple’s blow up mattress when she heard the commotion. She testified Monday that the gunman, without saying a word, put a gun to the back of McCray’s head and shot him.
The girlfriend testified that she screamed as her boyfriend collapsed to the floor. She then said both Mayberry and Hall began beating her, pistol whipping her in the head.
Mayberry’s also accused of shooting her in the leg, Lambert said.
After the shooting, Mayberry and Hall found some jars of marijuana and stole the girlfriend’s purse and McCray’s clothes and hats, Lambert said during his opening statement.
The girlfriend testified that she ran from the apartment after Mayberry and Hall left. She banged on the door of a nearby apartment until someone opened the door and offered to call 911, she said.
When police and paramedic’s arrived they found McCray’s girlfriend bleeding from her head and leg wound. After a short search they located McCray. He was laying on the kitchen floor of his apartment dying.
“We found him face up with a lot of blood coming from the right side of his head,” Fresno Police Sgt. Ezequiel Suarez testified. “It looked like he was shot in the back of the head and he was making a gurgling noise. “
McCray was taken to Fresno Community Regional Medical Center where later died. McCray’s girlfriend received 12 staples in her head, and she was treated for her gunshot wound.
Mayberry’s defense attorney Richard Richard Beshwate said there are only two people who can place his client at the crime scene and there is no physical evidence linking his client to the shooting.
Beshwate also suggested that Mayberry may be trying to cover up for Hall, who pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of first degree robbery. She’s expected to be sentenced on Oct. 21.
Hall is also expected to testify as a witness for the prosecution in Mayberry’s trial.
This story was originally published September 30, 2019 at 5:19 PM.
