Opinion ID: 2588509
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Gourmet Market Shootings

Text: At approximately 7:40 p.m. that same evening, Peter Baeza and John Myers were working, and Denise Frelow was shopping, in the Gourmet Market, a convenience store located on Jackson Street, 795 feet from the Taco Bell. Myers observed a male enter the store but did not pay him any attention. The male raised his arm as if to point to one of the bottles in the liquor section. He fired a gun and Myers fell backwards. Baeza, the store owner, crouched behind the deli cooler, holding a cordless telephone, with which Myers expected him to call 911. Defendant fired another shot, prompting Baeza to drop the phone, fall to the floor and cough blood. Defendant breezed out of the store, real cool and calm, like nothing had happened.... Baeza died at the scene. Myers was rushed to the hospital, where he arrived in shock and in a coma. To save his life, Myers required massive transfusions. Doctors also removed a kidney and a majority of his liver. Myers was released from the hospital on November 9, but continued to suffer sporadic pain. An autopsy on Baeza revealed the cause of death was a bullet wound to the side of the chest. Forensic evidence further revealed the shooter fired the gun from a distance of approximately 18 inches. Myers and Frelow testified the shooter was a Black male with braids in his hair; Myers recalled he wore a brown jacket. Both in court and in his October 22, 1990, statement to police, Myers described the shooter as being approximately five feet eight inches tall, with a medium build. Frelow testified the shooter was between five feet six inches and five feet nine inches tall, weighing approximately 155 or 160 pounds. In an earlier statement to police, she described the shooter as being about five feet six or seven inches tall. Defendant's self-described measurements were five feet five inches tall and 150 pounds. On October 22, 1990, Frelow observed a lineup of suspects, from which she selected defendant as the person she thought shot Baeza and Myers, although she was not sure.