Girl Testifies Deputy Fired First Shots

An 8-year-old Vista girl testified Tuesday that she heard Sheriff’s Deputy James Bennetts fire first at Mark Raymond Phelps and Phelps fired back in self-defense in a brief but furious gun battle July 31.

Summer Nesbitt, who was playing in her yard when Bennetts and Phelps began exchanging gunfire, admitted she did not tell the truth when she told a television reporter that Phelps was shot when he was surrendering with his hands up.

“I was scared and so I didn’t tell the truth,” she said. Under questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. William Collins, the girl said she fell to the ground and was peeking through bushes and did not see the fight clearly.

But she insisted that Bennetts fired first because the blasts were single shots, not the rapid-fire burst of Phelps’ submachine gun.

“I didn’t see it but I heard like a cop gun,” she said.

Three other witnesses, none of whom had a clear view of events, have also testified they heard single shots followed by bursts. The testimony came during Phelps’ preliminary hearing in Vista Municipal Court to determine if he should stand trial on two counts of attempted murder.

Phelps’ attorney, John Emerson, asserts his client fired only in self-defense. Prosecutors say Phelps fired first, possibly with a handgun before shifting to his submachine gun.