SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A security guard feared for his life when he fatally shot one of two robbers during an armed holdup at a North Park marijuana dispensary, a San Diego police detective testified Wednesday.
Detective Jana Beard said guard Henry Smith told her that he shot the alleged robber, identified as 18-year-old Marlon Thomas, after Thomas and another robber threatened to kill him and the dispensary owner during the armed holdup.
"He (the guard) thought he was going to die," Beard testified during a preliminary hearing for suspects Kurese Bell and Atiim Smith. "He was scared ... petrified." The security guard was shot in his pelvis and survived.
Bell, 18, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery in the holdup and fatal shooting that occurred about 12:30 p.m. April 25, 2014, in the 3800 block of Ray Street.
Smith, 22, is charged with attempted murder and felony robbery. His fingerprints were found in a car impounded by police after the robbery, a latent print examiner testified.
Another person, 21-year-old Jonathan Vincent Collins, pleaded guilty to a robbery charge with a gang allegation.
Bell -- who was 17 at the time -- is also charged in the robbery of a smoke shop on El Cajon Boulevard four days before the dispensary robbery.
He was arrested in May at a Los Angeles-area motel and charged as an adult in the case.
Following the conclusion of the preliminary hearing tomorrow, Judge Jay Bloom will decide if enough evidence was presented for Bell and Smith to stand trial.