Murder Trial Under Way In 2011 Halloween Robbery, Murder

Posted by: Perry Smith in Court September 15, 2014 - 4:30 pm 0 505 Views

A series of poor choices with tragic results.

That was how the Oct. 31, 2011, robbery of Rick Sandoval and the shooting death of Alejandro Sanchez-Torres in front of his 7-year-old son, Tony, was described by the prosecution in the murder trial of Diamonte McGhee, Branden Higgs and Eric Edwards.

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The three men, all age 20, were 17 when the shooting took place, but faced trial as adults Monday.

In his opening statement, Lieberman accused McGhee of wielding a gun a twice and bragging about wanting to “hit a lick,” or commit a robbery, in the days before Sanchez-Torres was killed.

Related: Canyon Country Teens Accused Of Halloween Murder Have Trial Delayed

The three men are being charged together, but were each represented by their own attorneys.

Chris Chaney is representing Diamonte “Tay Tay” McGhee, and Betsy Mogul is representing Eric Edwards, reserved the right to make an opening statement later in the trial.

Lieberman accused McGhee of robbing Rick Sandoval at gunpoint and then shooting Sandoval in the leg and Alejandro Sanchez-Torres in the heart for trying to intervene after a fateful meeting near the Santa Clara River wash in Canyon Country near the 18300 block of Soledad Canyon Road.

Lieberman described McGhee as a troubled teen who contemplated suicide before the shooting.

McGhee, who was close friends with Higgs, but barely knew Edwards, Higgs’ cousins, arranged a meeting with Sandoval after he saw the man near Art’s Liquor store.

Sandoval had just purchased a tall can of beer and was looking for work in the classifieds when he met the teens walking near the wash.

After they borrowed a lighter from him, he offered to sell them a Nintendo DS, he said.

The three agreed to on $30 for the price, Lieberman said.

Sandoval retrieved the game system from his home and displayed it before the defendants.

McGhee, after conferring with his two friends, then allegedly brandished a handgun and pointed at Sandoval, ordering him to the ground, Lieberman said.

McGhee reportedly took Sandoval’s wallet, and Higgs and Edwards also stole property from Sandoval, including his cellphone, Lieberman added, alleging that’s when the robbery became an attempted murder.

McGhee allegedly tried to shoot at Sandoval several times, but the gun didn’t fire. At this point, Sandoval thought he was being robbed by a fake gun.

He chased the three defendants across the wash, but they assaulted him when he caught up to them, Lieberman said.

Sanchez-Torres, who had just asked Sandoval for money outside of the nearby liquor store, came over to try and help Sandoval, whom he didn’t know, the prosecutor said.

McGhee pulled the gun again and tried to fire again, and this time it worked — McGhee shot Sandoval in the leg and Sanchez-Torres in the chest, Lieberman said.

Higgs was represented by attorney Michael Schensul, who said there were several incontrovertible facts

“You’re going to hear that there was a robbery. You’re going to hear that there was an attempted murder. You’re going to hear that there was a murder,” Schensul said. “But the rest of the case is a little more complicated than that.”

Schensul argued the evidence is going to show the robbery, attempted murder and murder that took place are not Higgs’ fault, he said.

“You will hear that there’s one person responsible for all of this — this tornado that brought all of the people that you’re going to see down in this case, including Branden Higgs,” Schensul said.

“The evidence will show there was one man, who decided on (Oct. 31, 2011), he had the right to make decisions about life and death,” Schensul said, declining to mention either of Higgs’ co-defendants.

“The evidence will show that one man got the gun, that one man committed the robbery and that one man killed Alejandro Sanchez-Torres and shot Mr. Sandoval,” he continued. “Branden Higgs was not that man.”

The prosecution’s case continued after opening statements with the questioning of Rick Sandoval, who was shot in the robbery.

The trial is expected to last several week, according to officials.

From a previous story:

All three defendants are facing five felony counts of murder, attempted murder, murder with special circumstances, conspiracy to commit a crime and second degree robbery.

Edwards has been in custody since April 30, 2012, for the crime, Higgs has been in custody since Aug. 27, 2012, and McGhee has been in custody since Jan. 27, 2012.

While the murder charge comes with a possibility of the death penalty, District Attorney spokesperson Jane Robison said that the court will not seek the death penalty for anyone under the age of 18, even though they are being tried as adults.

“With the special circumstances, they could go away for life,” she explained.