http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=1147929
FREMONT, Calif. (AP) -- In an abrupt about-face, one of four young men charged with killing a transgender teen pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and immediately began testifying against his friends.
Jaron Chase Nabors said defendant Jose Merel smashed Eddie "Gwen" Araujo in the head with a can and a skillet after finding out the 17-year-old, known to the defendants as Lida, was biologically male. Nabors, 19, said another defendant, Michael William Magidson put Araujo in a chokehold three times.
As her attackers closed in, Araujo, who was on her knees, begged for mercy, saying, "No, please don't. I have a family," Nabors said.
Sitting in the courtroom, Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero wiped away tears.
Under the terms of his plea-bargain agreement announced Monday, Nabors will get up to 11 years in prison. He had faced a murder charge and a possible sentence of 25 years to life. His plea came during a preliminary hearing into whether Nabors and the other three defendants should stand trial for murder.
"I don't think this was a good morning for the other three defendants, knowing that one has basically decided to enter a plea and testify, but it's a good day for us," said attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Araujo's family.
Merel, 23, Magidson, 22, and Jason Michael Cazares, 22, still are charged with murder in the beating and strangulation of Araujo at Merel's house in suburban Newark. The case was charged as a hate crime, an enhancement that was dropped for Nabors as part of his plea agreement.
About two weeks after the slaying, police say, Nabors led them to the body in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills about 150 miles east of Newark.
Nabors testified that the four met Araujo, whom they knew as Lida, in September. Nabors said he had a question right away about Araujo's gender, but all four laughed off the suggestion. More doubts surfaced some weeks later, after Merel and Magidson, who both had had sex with Araujo although at different times, began comparing stories, Nabors said.
At one point, Nabors recalled talking about what might happen if a man living as a woman met "a bad person," although he said the reference was not specifically to Araujo. Nabors said he wrote a letter to his girlfriend saying that "we had a conversation and went off on a Tony Soprano-like plan to kill him and get rid of the body," referring to the fictional mob boss popularized on HBO's "The Sopranos."
On the night of Oct. 3, Merel confronted Araujo, Nabors said. Magidson later took Araujo into a bathroom to try to determine her biological sex, but Araujo wouldn't cooperate. Another woman who was at the party, Nicole Brown, went into the bathroom and grabbed at Araujo's genitals, shouting, "It's a ... man."
Nabors said Merel tried to get into the bathroom but Cazares stopped him. He said Araujo, "just had her head down and was just kind of -- it's easy to say in retrospect, but she looked exactly like someone whose secret had just come out."
Nabors said Magidson pushed Araujo to the ground and pulled her skirt up and her underwear aside. He said Magidson three times put Araujo in a chokehold, one of which was broken by Jose Merel's brother, Emmanuel, and the other two by Cazares.
Later, Jose Merel struck Araujo in the head with a can from the kitchen and then got a skillet and hit her with that, Nabors said.
"I saw what looked like matted blood on the top of her head," he said.
Nabors said he and Cazares left the house and Cazares told him, "We're going to my house to get some shovels because they're going to kill that (expletive)."
The two later returned to the Merel house, where Nabors said he saw Araujo sitting on a couch.
"She was just sitting there. Just staring, blood on her face," he said.
Earlier, Allred had said although listening to such testimony would be difficult, Guerrero was glad Nabors decided to testify because she wants the truth about what happened.
Guerrero said it "was a blessing," that the plea came on the day that Araujo would have turned 18.
Standing outside the courthouse, Araujo's family held "Happy Birthday" balloons that bobbed gently in the light breeze.
"Happy birthday, Gwen," Guerrero said, looking up into the pale winter sky. "We love you."
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What are yall thoughts about this shit?
FREMONT, Calif. (AP) -- In an abrupt about-face, one of four young men charged with killing a transgender teen pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and immediately began testifying against his friends.
Jaron Chase Nabors said defendant Jose Merel smashed Eddie "Gwen" Araujo in the head with a can and a skillet after finding out the 17-year-old, known to the defendants as Lida, was biologically male. Nabors, 19, said another defendant, Michael William Magidson put Araujo in a chokehold three times.
As her attackers closed in, Araujo, who was on her knees, begged for mercy, saying, "No, please don't. I have a family," Nabors said.
Sitting in the courtroom, Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero wiped away tears.
Under the terms of his plea-bargain agreement announced Monday, Nabors will get up to 11 years in prison. He had faced a murder charge and a possible sentence of 25 years to life. His plea came during a preliminary hearing into whether Nabors and the other three defendants should stand trial for murder.
"I don't think this was a good morning for the other three defendants, knowing that one has basically decided to enter a plea and testify, but it's a good day for us," said attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Araujo's family.
Merel, 23, Magidson, 22, and Jason Michael Cazares, 22, still are charged with murder in the beating and strangulation of Araujo at Merel's house in suburban Newark. The case was charged as a hate crime, an enhancement that was dropped for Nabors as part of his plea agreement.
About two weeks after the slaying, police say, Nabors led them to the body in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills about 150 miles east of Newark.
Nabors testified that the four met Araujo, whom they knew as Lida, in September. Nabors said he had a question right away about Araujo's gender, but all four laughed off the suggestion. More doubts surfaced some weeks later, after Merel and Magidson, who both had had sex with Araujo although at different times, began comparing stories, Nabors said.
At one point, Nabors recalled talking about what might happen if a man living as a woman met "a bad person," although he said the reference was not specifically to Araujo. Nabors said he wrote a letter to his girlfriend saying that "we had a conversation and went off on a Tony Soprano-like plan to kill him and get rid of the body," referring to the fictional mob boss popularized on HBO's "The Sopranos."
On the night of Oct. 3, Merel confronted Araujo, Nabors said. Magidson later took Araujo into a bathroom to try to determine her biological sex, but Araujo wouldn't cooperate. Another woman who was at the party, Nicole Brown, went into the bathroom and grabbed at Araujo's genitals, shouting, "It's a ... man."
Nabors said Merel tried to get into the bathroom but Cazares stopped him. He said Araujo, "just had her head down and was just kind of -- it's easy to say in retrospect, but she looked exactly like someone whose secret had just come out."
Nabors said Magidson pushed Araujo to the ground and pulled her skirt up and her underwear aside. He said Magidson three times put Araujo in a chokehold, one of which was broken by Jose Merel's brother, Emmanuel, and the other two by Cazares.
Later, Jose Merel struck Araujo in the head with a can from the kitchen and then got a skillet and hit her with that, Nabors said.
"I saw what looked like matted blood on the top of her head," he said.
Nabors said he and Cazares left the house and Cazares told him, "We're going to my house to get some shovels because they're going to kill that (expletive)."
The two later returned to the Merel house, where Nabors said he saw Araujo sitting on a couch.
"She was just sitting there. Just staring, blood on her face," he said.
Earlier, Allred had said although listening to such testimony would be difficult, Guerrero was glad Nabors decided to testify because she wants the truth about what happened.
Guerrero said it "was a blessing," that the plea came on the day that Araujo would have turned 18.
Standing outside the courthouse, Araujo's family held "Happy Birthday" balloons that bobbed gently in the light breeze.
"Happy birthday, Gwen," Guerrero said, looking up into the pale winter sky. "We love you."
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What are yall thoughts about this shit?
