KINGMAN -- There’s no dispute that one teenager shot and killed another at a party in Lake Havasu City 18 months ago as a murder begins in Kingman. Attorneys, however, have asked a Mohave County Superior Court jury to reach disparate conviction-acquittal outcomes in the trial of Carter Beckwith, 19, Lake Havasu City.
Prosecutor Rod Albright and defense attorney Jaimye Ashley used only 10 minutes to present opening statements to the panel at the Law and Justice Center Monday afternoon. Albright said the defendant was just 18 years old when a July 9 party attended ``by lots of people” spilled into the early morning hours of July 10, 2021 at a home at 2387 Alpine Lane.
Albright told jurors that the victim, Daemon Petetan, 19, arrived at the gathering with some other friends and had a brief conversation with Beckwith before they were directed to chat outside in the backyard. The deputy county attorney said some at the party thought they heard a balloon pop when Beckwith shot and killed Petetan.
Albright said a few partygoers and an initially arriving officer found Petetan with a gunshot to the chest and exit wound from his back, but that no weapon belonging to the victim was found at the scene. He said Beckwith fled the incident but was arrested hours later while sleeping in his vehicle that was parked in Parker, south of Lake Havasu.
Albright said a handgun located on the passenger seat of Beckwith’s vehicle matched a shell casing found where Petetan was killed, that Beckwith admitted his role in the shooting and that Beckwith said he planned to travel to California. Albright told the jury that the various facts, pieces of evidence and the defendant’s own admissions should command a guilty verdict.
Ashley countered that Beckwith should be acquitted because he was afraid of Petetan and that Petetan also was armed.
``You’re going to hear evidence that Carter feared Daemon and acted in self-defense,” Ashley said. ``Daemon pulled a gun on Carter. Carter pulled his gun. This was self-defense.”
Ashley did not account for lack of discovery of a weapon belonging to the victim at the scene, but she told the jury that the state can’t explain any motive behind the violence either. ``They have no reason to support why they believe Carter intentionally killed Daemon,” she said.
Alleged gang affiliation was at issue as attorneys argued the propriety of referencing and associating the victim to others outside of the presence of the jury before opening statements were presented to the panel. Ashley wanted to present some of Petetan’s alleged history to prove why Beckwith would be afraid of him.
Judge Doug Camacho agreed to afford Ashley some latitude, but directed her to be careful with her presentation to avoid prejudicing the jury. The Judge said that he would consider the sensitivity of Petetan’s alleged involvements and admissibility of such evidence as the trial proceeds.
Officer Anthony Path of the Lake Havasu City Police Department was the first witness to testify in the trial that is expected to finish next Monday, possibly sooner. Four supporters attended day one of the trial on behalf of the defendant with about 10 others sitting on the other side of the courtroom in support of the deceased.
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