Local News in Brief : Mistrial Declared in Granada Hills Killing
The trial of Granada Hills resident accused of killing the man his former girlfriend was dating ended in a mistrial Tuesday in San Fernando Superior Court.
After deliberating three days, the jury reported that it was deadlocked, 10 to 2, in favor of a first-degree murder verdict against Charles Ruben Stevens, 35. Commissioner Irwin Garfinkel declared a mistrial.
Stevens was accused in the shooting death of Evans Crawford, 29, outside Crawford’s Granada Hills home last December. Prosecutor Alex Kessel said Stevens was angry because Crawford was dating a Sylmar woman who had broken up with Stevens a few months earlier.
Although there was no eyewitness to the shooting, testimony linked the murder weapon to Stevens. One witness said that a person matching Stevens’ description was walking near the scene of the shooting shortly after it occurred.
Kessel said that Stevens will be tried again.
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