35-Year-Old Sentenced To 50 Years To Life For Murdering Friend Who Laughed At Him Following Fight
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities said a 35-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in prison for the murder of a friend who laughed at him after he'd gotten beaten up in a fight.
Jonathan Peterson of Buena Park was convicted Nov. 18 of first-degree murder for killing 25-year-old Antwann Jones of Anaheim.
Co-defendant Jihad Jones, no relation to the victim, was charged as an accessory after the fact. He pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to 32 months in prison, the amount of credit he had for time in custody, according to Senior Deputy DA Steve McGreevy.
Peterson and Jihad Jones went out partying the night of May 24, 2014. The shooting occurred around 2:30 the next morning as Peterson was being dropped off at his apartment where he lived with his girlfriend and their two children.
The victim died from a single gunshot wound that ripped through both lungs and severed an artery, McGreevy said. Authorities did not recover the weapon, but found a spent shell casing and a live round at the crime scene.
The defendant's girlfriend, Latoya Pellazar, initially lied to police about what happened, but she went to investigators several days later because
"she was upset and said, `I can't live with this anymore. It's eating me up inside,' " McGreevy quoted her as saying.
Pellazar told investigators that Peterson came home upset and retrieved a gun. She said that when she tried to stop him, he pushed her away and swore at her.
Later that night, when she finally met up again with the defendant in an Anaheim motel, he told her that the victim "laughed at him when he was beat up," McGreevy told the jury.
The defendant initially lied to police, saying he was beaten up by two men, McGreevy told City News Service. Peterson, however, testified in the trial that Antwann Jones punched him, the prosecutor said.
Peterson's attorney, Matthew Darling, told jurors that Antwann Jones "punched him several times and threatened to kill him. He (Peterson) was in fear for his life and had to act in self-defense."
After Peterson and Jihad Jones had gone to a strip club in Anaheim, the two picked up Antwann Jones at his mother's home, Darling said.
The three were friends, but there had been tension because Antwann Jones had been accusing Peterson of trying to have sex with the victim's
girlfriend, who was a stripper, Darling said.
Antwann Jones was a "violent guy when he was drinking," and on the night of the shooting, he had a blood-alcohol level of .15 -- nearly twice the legal limit for driving, Darling said.
Antwann Jones kept accusing Peterson of trying to "get with" Jones' girlfriend, Darling said. Peterson repeatedly denied it and assured Jones that he and Jihad Jones had been at another strip club than the one in which the victim's girlfriend worked, Darling said.
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