Prosecutors to rest in Lee’s Discount Liquor death penalty trial
Investigators quickly ruled out one suspect in the 2016 shooting of a Las Vegas liquor store clerk in part because the gunman walked with a limp, a homicide detective testified Friday.
The Metropolitan Police Department fielded dozens of tips after 24-year-old Matthew Christensen was fatally shot in the back room of a southwest valley Lee’s Discount Liquor store.
One anonymous tip identified a man named Xavier Byrd, lead detective Dolphis Boucher said.
“Initially he had some things which led us to believe he could be the person on the video,” Boucher testified.
Byrd had similar physical features, such as the shape of his nose, and the fact that he was left-handed, just like the gunman, Boucher said.
But the man in the video, later identified as Ray Charles Brown, walked with a limp, and he was “much more rotund,” without a gap in his teeth, the detective said.
Jurors watched a video of Brown after his arrest, walking bow-legged with a distinct leg drag.
“Ray Brown is absolutely the person” in the surveillance video, Boucher said. “Once I saw his gait, he’s the person on the video. There’s no doubt about it.”
Brown was also about 4 inches shorter than the other man.
Defense attorneys have argued that Brown, now 26, was not the man in the video who fired six shots into Christensen after he stood with his hands up, telling robbers he could not open the store’s safe.
In surveillance video, Brown was seen wearing a white sock over his right hand, which authorities have said covered tattoos, including a red “4,” and helped identify him. Cameras also caught a glimpse of Brown’s red boxers, which the detective said were found inside his home.
Boucher was the final prosecution witness in the initial phase of Brown’s trial.
Brown is charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Closing arguments are expected Monday.
Should the jury find him guilty of first-degree murder, the trial would then move to a penalty phase. Jurors would decide whether he should receive the death penalty or a term in prison.
Earlier this week, jurors watched the surveillance video of the April 2016 robbery and slaying and heard a 911 call from Christensen’s then-pregnant co-worker.
Prosecutors said Brown fired multiple shots that struck Christensen, a part-time employee, who had directed his killer away from his co-workers and to the back of the southwest valley store.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly told jurors during opening statements that Christensen did not know the combination for the safe.
The second gunman, Lee Dominic Sykes, fired a warning shot before bullets from Brown’s revolver killed Christensen, the prosecutor said.
Defense attorneys argued that no DNA evidence, confession or weapon linked Brown to the robbery and slaying.
Two brothers have been sentenced for their roles in the robbery and Christensen’s killing.
Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison. He, too, had faced capital punishment before striking a deal with prosecutors.
His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.
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Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.