Cypress man accused of shooting 12-year-old boy in Long Beach wanted revenge

A 22-year-old Cypress man accused of shooting a 12-year-old boy in Long Beach wanted revenge after someone shot him earlier in the day and damaged his girlfriend's car, according to testimony presented during a preliminary hearing Monday, Sept. 9, in Long Beach Superior Court.

Reshawn Jonae Strother was driving a black Honda Accord owned by his girlfriend, Destenee Sheree Scipio, 22, in the area of Hellman Street and Orange Avenue shortly after 6:45 p.m. on May 9, 2023, when the shooting occurred, Long Beach Police Detective Michael Hubbard testified.

Two miles away and less than five hours later, Strother and Scipio reportedly encountered 12-year-old Eric Gregory Brown III and two friends in the area of Lewis Avenue and Hill Street.

Someone got out of the car and asked, “(expletive) where are you from?” before shots were fired, Detective Jesus Espinoza testified.

Brown was hit in the back of the head and the bullet went through his skull, Espinoza testified. A 14-year-old girl was also hit once in the leg but survived. A 13-year-old girl was unharmed.

Police believe the shooting was related to gang crime, but stressed that the children were not involved in gangs.

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Family, friends and neighbors attend a candlelight vigil in Long Beach on Wednesday evening, May 10, 2023, for 12-year-old Eric Gregory Brown III, who was killed in a shooting Tuesday evening. (Photo by Howard Freshman, contributing photographer)

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After a three-hour hearing, Judge Judith L. Meyer ruled that there was sufficient evidence against Strother and Scipio to try them on charges of murder, two counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Strother is also charged with attempted murder and other charges in connection with a shooting two months earlier at a Los Angeles recording studio in which Scipio suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and another man was injured.

The 13-year-old girl told investigators they were walking down Lewis Street when a black car drove past them, Espinoza testified. She then heard “Where are you from?” and saw her two friends running away before hearing gunshots. She said she saw three men wearing ski masks and hoodies outside the car and saw green and red lasers that she believed came from their guns.

In an interview with Hubbard, Scipio said there were two other men in the back seat. Scipio told the detective she saw one get into the car with a gun, Hubbard testified, adding that Strother and that man were identified as gang members. However, no further arrests were made in the case.

Detective Leanna Kim said she analyzed 18 9mm cartridge cases found at the crime scene and determined that six were fired from one gun and 12 from a second gun.

She entered a cartridge case from each weapon into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and found that the cartridge cases from the rifle from which six shots were fired matched the cartridge cases from the Los Angeles shooting that occurred on March 11, 2023, in the 900 block of San Pedro Street.

In a phone call to his mother from prison, Strother said he and Scipio were near the shooting when it happened, smoking blunts. He said he was in the passenger seat and Scipio was the driver that night.

Still images from an undated video from Strother's Instagram account show Strother holding a gun while driving, according to authorities.

After the first shooting in Long Beach, Strother said he wanted to retaliate, but Scipio didn't want him to take her car to carry out that plan, according to text messages and a video presented in court Monday.

The night of the shooting, the couple stayed at the Tower Motel near Pacific Coast Highway and Chestnut Avenue. The video shows Strother arriving at Scipio's Accord around 7 p.m., authorities said.

As the video shows, Scipio stands in front of the car to prevent Strother from driving away, at which point Strother gets out, grabs her by the neck and throws her onto the hood of the car. He holds her for several seconds before another man, who appears to know the two, intervenes.

Scipio then gets into the back seat of the car while Strother gets back into the driver's seat. In the interview with Hubbard, Scipio said that they later picked up the other two men in Downey and Carson. Surveillance video from a gas station in Carson appears to show the car with Scipio getting out and buying cigars inside.

Scipio's backup defense attorney, Kevin McGurk, argued for the charges against her to be dropped, citing her behavior at the motel and her text messages to friends as evidence that she was trying to stop Strother from taking the car. He also argued for a lower bail amount because Scipio was pregnant at the time of the shooting and had her child while in custody, but that request was also denied.

“My concern is that she was a victim of domestic violence and then hours later she was willing to drive her around,” Judge Meyer said. “She knew why she was driving her around.”

Originally published: September 9, 2024 at 5:54 pm

Cypress man accused of shooting 12-year-old boy in Long Beach wanted revenge – Press Telegram

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Cypress man accused of shooting 12-year-old boy in Long Beach wanted revenge – Press Telegram

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