Couple Ordered To Stand Trial For Murder Of 2, Including MTV Staffer

LOS ANGELES (CBS) —  A man and woman were ordered Thursday to stand trial on murder charges stemming from the deaths of two men, including an MTV music coordinator, slain about a week apart last year.

Following a nearly 2 1/2-day preliminary hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry found there was sufficient evidence to require the alleged triggerman, Jabaar Vincent Thomas, 27, and Destiny Young, 30, to stand trial.

They are charged in the shotgun shooting deaths of Gabriel Aron Ben-Meir, who was gunned down outside his apartment building on May 8, 2011, and Marcelo Aragon, 35, who was killed in the Pico-Union area on April 30, 2011.

Ben-Meir, who was 30 at the time of his murder, worked on the show "Punk'd."

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of murder during the course of a robbery and multiple murders. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

Thomas and Young are also charged along with co-defendant Richard Edward Anderson Jr., 34, in a series of robberies.

Thomas, Young and Anderson were arrested last May and have remained behind bars.

While holding the three to answer on the majority of the charges against them, the judge dismissed one robbery count each against Young and Anderson. He also amended three robbery charges to attempted robbery.

Thomas, Young and Anderson are due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on May 10 for arraignment.

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