Local News in Brief : Pacoima Man to Stand Trial in Fatal Shooting
A Pacoima man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a man who was beaten, tied up with his own pants and shot twice as he attempted to escape.
Michael Lynn Flowers, 24, will be arraigned Aug. 12 on one count of first-degree murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon in the April 12 shooting of Eddie V. Houston, 30, of Pacoima.
But Municipal Judge Paul I. Metzler, ruling after a four-day preliminary hearing, dropped murder and robbery charges against two other defendants who witnesses said had participated in the beating at a Pacoima apartment. The men, G. T. Fisher, 26, and Gary Dean Perry, 30, both of Pacoima, will instead be tried on one count each of assault with a deadly weapon, Metzler ruled. Both were being held in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Flowers originally was accused of first-degree murder while committing a robbery, for which the death penalty could have been invoked. But the judge dropped the robbery charge for lack of evidence.
Flowers is being held without bail in County Jail.
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