From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Oct 06 2009 - 08:15:57 EDT
Witness describes how he was shot, his friend killed
By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, October 5, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 5, 2009 at 9:12 p.m.
A 29-year-old man testifying Monday in a Santa Rosa drug-turf murder trial
described how he watched in horror as a gunman shot a friend sitting next to
him at a party and then turned the gun on him.
Rafael Chavez said the suspect, Ricardo Puentes, walked into the Hoen Avenue
apartment in January 2005, pulled a handgun from his coat and started firing
at 27-year-old Semere Girmai, known to friends as “Streets.”
When Chavez stood up from his chair, Puentes wheeled around with the pistol
held sideways and shot him in the shoulder and wrist, forcing him back in
his seat, he said. Puentes fired again on Girmai then ran out the door,
Chavez testified.
Chaos ensued, Chavez said, as other party-goers fled and he realized Girmai
was mortally wounded.
“I stood up and yelled to my friend. I told him to wake up,” said Chavez,
his eyes welling with tears. “And there was Streets, slumped back in his
chair, choking on his own blood.”
Girmai died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds and Chavez was treated
at a hospital after phoning 911, he said.
The account came at the the beginning of the second week of testimony in the
trial of Omar Chavez, 26, an alleged norteno gang member accused by
prosecutors of ordering the killing to “squash a problem” stemming from a
drug sales rivalry.
After the shooting, Chavez, who is no relation to Rafael Chavez, fled to
Florida and was arrested in 2007. Puentes remains at large.
At trial, Deputy District Attorney Traci Carrillo has sought to paint a
picture of growing tension between Chavez and Girmai, described as drug
dealers. After Chavez learned his rival was partying at a Bennett Valley
apartment late Jan. 14, 2005, he went there with Puentes, “his muscle,”
intent on killing him, she said in opening statements to the jury.
Defense attorney Erik Babcock denied the allegation, saying his client
didn’t know of plans to kill the Eritrean-born Girmai.
Testimony from Rafael Chavez Monday appeared to support the prosecution’s
theory. He said that in the pandemonium after the shooting, only Chavez
appeared unsurprised.
Asked by Carrillo to describe his demeanor, he said it was “calm.” Asked if
Chavez yelled, ducked or ran for cover, the witness answered no.
“He wasn’t doing anything,” Chavez said. “I recall it clearly.”
Despite defense objections to the characterization of calm, Judge Ken Gnoss
said he would allow it based on past case law on witness observations.
The trial continues Tuesday.
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