| For Immediate Release Case # 06ZF0138
October 3, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
TWO SAN DIEGO MEN CONVICTED OF
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY MURDER OF
SUSPECTED IRVINE DRUG DEALER
*Third co-defendant convicted in April 2008
SANTA ANA – Two San Diego men were convicted late yesterday afternoon of murdering a suspected drug dealer with a third co-defendant in a plot to steal money and cocaine on Super Bowl Sunday. Stephen Bennett, 37, and Bernard Smith, 44, both of Vista, San Diego, were convicted of special circumstances murder during the commission of a robbery, second degree robbery, and the transportation of a controlled substance. Smith was also convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon. A sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death was found true for Smith. Bennett’s two prior 1992 robbery strike convictions were found true. Each faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Sentencing for Smith is set for Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Co-defendant Brandon Turner, 22, Oceanside, was found guilty by a jury on April 14, 2008, of felonies for special circumstances murder during the commission of a robbery, second degree robbery, and the transportation of a controlled substance and a true finding on the sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. Turner was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at his sentencing Sep. 19, 2008.
On Feb. 5, 2006, Bennett and Smith devised a plan with Turner to rob a drug dealer in order to steal money and drugs. Bennett is called a suspected drug dealer, Brian Gray, and set up a meeting under the pretense of purchasing drugs. The defendants drove from Vista to the Irvine home of the victim with the intention of stealing drugs from Gray. Turner shot the victim several times, killing him. Smith also shot the victim. The defendants stole cocaine from the victim’s home and fled the scene.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting the case.
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