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Trial begins for third Fort Smith homicide defendant

Times Record - 12/19/2017

Dec. 19--The third murder trial for the Slangaz96 gang shooting death of a rival gang member in Fort Smith began Monday at the Sebastian County Courts Building.

A six-man, six-woman jury was chosen Monday morning in Circuit Judge Michael Fitzhugh's courtroom for the trial of Ryan Saige Oxford, 20, on counts of first-degree murder and committing a terroristic act in the 2300 block of North Ninth Street in Fort Smith.

Justin Lopez, 18, was shot dead about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, in a camper trailer parked behind a house in the 2300 block of North Ninth Street. Bryan Porras, 19, and Alberto Chavez, 19, were recently sentenced to more than 100 years in prison each for the murder.

In addition to Trey Miller, the man who was also nearly killed that night in the shooting, the jury also heard from Jorge Chirinos, 17, one of the four people charged with murder. Miller was 20 when the shooting took place.

Chirinos, who faces trial in January in the slaying, was called to the witness stand Monday from the Sebastian County Juvenile Detention Center to tell Oxford's jurors what happened that night in January. Chirinos said he has not made any sort of deal with prosecutors, but rather "expected leniency" in his trial for "telling the truth."

Chirinos had previously told police that he was "too drunk" the night of the shooting to remember what happened.

Answering questions from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Houston, Chirinos said he and Oxford were in the right-side passenger seats of Bryan Porras' vehicle before the shooting. Chavez was in the seat behind the driver. Although Chirinos said he had been "jumped" into the gang more than a year before the shooting, Oxford was simply "blessed in" and did not go through the same initiation.

Oxford worked at Midland Pawn, according to an affidavit, and had purchased both of the weapons used in the shooting. Coincidentally, Midland Pawn is just a block away from the location of the shooting.

Chirinos said he had only met Oxford about two months before, and had joined him in posing in photographs with guns raised for Snapchat videos posted by Porras to promote their gang -- Slangaz96, aka S96, aka Syndicate 96, aka Slangaz Syndicate. "Slangaz" is a street term for "sellers," Chirinos explained. In the videos, the Slangaz96 members would say such things as "CBK" for "Cloutboy killer." Oxford had bought an AK-47 and AR-15, as well as other guns, at is workplace, according to court documents.

In one of Porras' videos, the group shot those guns into the air on New Year's Eve, Chirinos said.

Oxford's AK-47 was in Porras' vehicle, but Chavez used it at that night, Chirinos told the jury Monday. Porras used the AR-15. Chirinos said he and Oxford stepped out of the vehicle before the shooting, but did not handle weapons during the Lopez shooting.

"He said 'Shoot, shoot,' but Chavez was having trouble with the safety," Chirinos said of Alberto Chavez and the AK-47. "Then they started shooting towards the camper and the house."

The camper was located perpendicular and east of the alley, just behind the house. Miller was hunkered down in the bathroom of the trailer. Lopez, who had a loaded shotgun, was in the bedroom section.

Miller told the jury they could tell a vehicle had driven up into the alley by the sound of gravel and lights shining. Lopez loaded his shotgun, after a person wearing a gray hoodie came up to the door, Miller said.

At least 30 bullets were fired from the AK-47 and AR-15 into the camper from an alley. One of them struck Lopez in the neck.

"I heard shots about 10:30," Trey Miller's grandmother said. "We thought it was firecrackers."

Miller had lived with his grandmother since he was 5, she said. Two more of her grandchildren were sleeping in the house that night.

"Trey was yelling and screaming 'Justin's dead,'" the grandmother said.

A neighbor called 911.

Miller told the jury he and Lopez had been smoking marijuana in the camper with two teenage girls that night, and at least two people came by the camper to buy marijuana, including a cousin of Lopez and a man named Guadalupe Chavez. The girls left about 9:30 p.m., after "Lupe" Chavez. The girls "ran off" Lupe Chavez, Miller said, because he was "talking smack."

Meanwhile, a wedding anniversary party was being set up at the Fort Smith Convention Center and Chirinos was picked back up from his house at about 9:30 p.m. by Porras.

Chirinos said he had gone home to make a trade of marijuana for beer. When he was picked back up by Porras, Chirinos got in the right passenger seat behind Oxford. Porras drove and Alberto Chavez was in the back left passenger seat, Chirinos said. The teen said he saw guns underneath the car seats. They went to the Convention Center where a party was being held for a wedding the next day. Porras spoke with a man named "Jaime" at the party. Alberto Chavez spoke with Lupe Chavez, Chirinos said, for about 15 to 20 minutes. "Jaime" told Porras about buying marijuana from Justin Lopez, Chirinos said.

"When he said he had bought some weed off of him earlier, he (Porras) was like 'I know where that's at,' and he said 'Let's go,'" Chirinos said.

Porras had told Chirinos to put on a Halloween mask and for Chavez to put on a hockey mask that was in the car, Chirinos said. Although Chirinos said he saw the AK-47 and AR-15 in the car, he didn't know what the plan was until they pulled up to the trailer in the alley.

About 10:30 p.m. that Saturday, Miller and Lopez saw car lights and heard wheels on the gravel in the alley.

"I saw a guy walk up and Justin got the shotgun and loaded it," Miller said. "The guy sprinted back toward the alley."

Then the shooting started. As seen in the crime scene footage, the alley is littered with shell casings. Several unused bullets were also found.

Miller said after the shooting stopped he ran out thinking that Justin Lopez had tried to chase the shooters. He said he heard someone say "Hell yeah!" and then he heard the "gurgling of blood."

A video taken by the Fort Smith Police Department Crime Scene Unit shows Justin Lopez's body lying in the walkway of the camper next to the bedroom. A mirror on the wall nearby was pierced by two of the bullets. Miller was unscathed in the shooting. He said he had only felt some debris land at his feet. However, at the outset of the trial, he said "I had a very good friend die." Miller picked Lopez's body up from a cramped corner of the bedroom and checked for a pulse. There was none.

The trial continues today. Oxford's defense attorney, Jeff Atkinson, told jurors that he expects to place his client on the stand.

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(c)2017 Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.)

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