A 19-year-old Berkeley man appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court Thursday, on charges that he shot to death 17-year-old Rylan Fuchs on the front porch of his Danville home while trying to rob him of some marijuana.
Walter Bell faces special circumstances murder charges, alleging that he shot Fuchs during the commission of a robbery. If convicted, Bell faces the death penalty.
Fuchs, a senior at Danville's San Ramon Valley High School, was killed at about 9:15 p.m. January 20, just outside his home on El Capitan Drive. According to various news reports, authorities believe that Fuchs was selling pot and that Bell tried to rob him.
It's unclear how many people were outside Fuchs' home when he was shot. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection of the killing shortly after it happened, but he was never charged. He was re-arrested Thursday, though the extent of his involvement remains unclear.
1 comment:
This is truly a sad story where these two young men's lives have been ruined over senseless acts of greed and youthful aggression. I am sure there will be plenty of talk about how the cannabis "made this happen," but we must understand that young men are often engaged in unsavory behaviors in which unfortunate and sometimes deadly things happen. This could have happened over a pair of sneakers as well (and it has). To those who will blame the lousy gram of the cannabis plant for these actions, I say you may look to prohibition as the cause of much violence and aggression where cannabis is concerned, the same way there was violence during alcohol prohibition. I pray for the families of these young men, as I could not imagine the pain they suffer.
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