RELATED:Prosecutors: Springfield double murder suspect showed no remorse
Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson said he’s pleased with the results of the verdict. The trial began on March 27
“The jury spent five days in court listening to the evidence. They considered all the evidence we put before them and we feel they brought back a correct and just verdict,” Wilson said. “That’s what happens when people from the community step up and help out.”
Bonaparte was accused of fatally shooting two people on Oct. 4 in an apartment in the 1300 block of Delta Road after an argument — Joshua Brown, 26, and Raina Beal, 23, according to investigators. Bonaparte allegedly shot at Brown, who then shot back, investigators have said, and Beal was caught in the crossfire.
Prosecutors played a recording in court on Monday they said was a phone call from Brown to a family member of Beal’s.
“We got into an argument, though, then he started feeling some type of way, got the heat … I reached in my hoodie pocket. Then while it was in my hoodie pocket (expletive), I pulled my set out and got to clapping at him,” Bonaparte can be heard saying in the call.
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On the first day of trial, Wilson told potential jurors Bonaparte showed no remorse for killing Brown but expressed some for Beal. In court Wilson said the defendant and Beal dated in the past.
Defense attorney Shawn Thomas told jurors Monday during closing remarks to keep in mind the possibility of another shooter. He mentioned that another man in the room at the time might have fired shots.
“They based that on testimony of a guy who is just as much a suspect as he is — a witness, Packy, a four-time convicted felon,” Thomas said.
Several people were in the apartment who were a part of the “street” lifestyle, Thomas said, and gang members and drugs were present in the apartment.
Witnesses might have fired shots during the altercation, Thomas said, but the prosecution rebutted that claim saying only two types of bullet casings were found in the apartment.
If one of the witnesses had fired a gun, Wilson said Brown likely would have shot him while he was still present in his home after the defendant ran off.
Bonaparte will be sentenced on Mon. April 30. He faces up to a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 36 years, according to Wilson.
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