Jury deliberating on 2013 retrial of a Fresno killing. Here’s the evidence being considered
For the second time since 2017, Jerel Stanfield has been on trial for the murder of a gang rival on Easter Sunday 2013. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury.
Will his second trial that wrapped up Tuesday end the same way?
For several weeks, jurors have listened to dozens of witnesses, including forensics experts, detectives and people at the scene of the shooting where 23-year-old William Simpson was killed. There has been drama, outbursts in the courtroom and at times a heavy police presence.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Gularte, who prosecuted Stanfield in the 2017 case, urged the jury to focus on the facts and the testimony from his star witness, Simpson’s girlfriend, Lajeana Ramsey.
Ramsey was with Simpson the night he was fatally shot. The couple and Ramsey’s 3-year-old child were sleeping in a car outside of an apartment belonging to Simpson’s relative in central Fresno. They arrived at the apartment in the early morning and waited in the car after no one came to the door.
Police said both men are members of rival gangs: Simpson, a Dog Pound member and Stanfield a part of the Strother Boys. At the time, the gangs were feuding.
Stanfield is accused by police of spotting Simpson that night at 4140 N. Clark St. and then shooting him multiple times with a .40 caliber handgun.
Gularte reminded the jury the day a reluctant Ramsey testified and broke down on the stand. Ramsey, who no longer lives in the area, told Gularte she was afraid to testify for fear of retribution from Stanfield’s friends or family.
One of the most gut-wrenching moments during the trial was listening to Ramsey’s 911 call the night of the shooting. Ramsey was screaming for help, trying desperately to catch her breath.
It was at that moment, Ramsey couldn’t take any more. “She shot up and yelled, ‘You killed him, you (expletive). I hate you,’” Gularte said. “She spoke the truth.”
Gularte also tried to downplay potentially damaging evidence that defense attorney Kevin Little introduced about the arrest of Stanfield by Fresno police.
Stanfield was located several hours after the early morning shooting, driving in a black SUV. He led police on a short chase ending up in the southwest Fresno neighborhood of his gang.
One of the officers involved crashed his car into Stanfield’s, sending it into a tree and causing it to stop. Gularte said Stanfield got out of his vehicle and began to run, despite commands from police to stop and to show his hands.
Gularte said Stanfield was considered dangerous and when he began tugging at his waistband, officers reacted.
“The defendant stopped, turned around and he is shot by officers,” Gularte said.
A .40 caliber Glock handgun was found at the scene. Gularte said ballistics test showed it was the same gun used to kill Simpson.
Little cautioned the jury from believing everything the prosecutor was telling them. Little said the ballistics tests were not conclusive and the discovery of the gun was circumspect.
One of the officers testified he never saw a gun on the ground, or on Stanfield. Gularte acknowledged that Stanfield never fired a gun at officers.
Another officer, who was helping to put handcuffs on Stanfield, said he saw a gun in the rear waistband of his pants while another said he saw it in between Stanfield’s legs, Little said.
The biggest surprise, Little argued, came from the officer who alleges he pulled a gun out from Stanfield’s pant leg. “Stop it,” Little told jurors. “That is not true.”
The jury resumed deliberations Wednesday.
This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
