Ip Testifies He Can’t Remember Firing Shot That Killed Youth

A tearful Roger Sing Ip told a jury Tuesday he doesn’t remember pulling the trigger of the gun that killed a 15-year-old boy after a near-collision in Pacific Beach last year.

Sobbing frequently, Ip, 34, of Spring Valley, testified as the first defense witness in his murder trial in San Diego Superior Court. Ip is accused of killing Kurt Yokes on July 10, 1989, after nearly colliding with the car in which Yokes was a passenger.

Ip said he left his Pacific Beach restaurant late that night with the business’s receipts and, as usual, carried a gun with him for “protection” against possible robbery.

Ip testified that he saw a red car close to him and he heard a braking sound.

“I saw a young female showing me the middle finger from her vehicle,” Ip said. “I felt offended. I was tired. I had a headache. I wanted to go home. The car cut in front of me, and I had to step on the brakes.”

“I heard the male voice from the red car speak in some dirty language,” said Ip, adding that it was from another passenger, Michael Endsley. Ip said Endsley raised his fist in the air and yelled, “Go back to your . . . country.”

“He was very uneducated and very disrespectful,” testified Ip, adding that he saw more obscene gestures made toward him.

“I feel deeply insulted. I was very upset. To me, this is my country,” Ip said. “I felt I was being insulted, and I should talk to these people.”

Earlier in his testimony, Ip told the jury how he had come from Hong Kong to the United States 14 years ago.

Ip broke down repeatedly as he described the shooting. He said he followed the other car for a short distance because he said it was “my responsibility to talk with these people” about their rude behavior.

“I didn’t even see him,” said Ip, referring to Yokes.

“What happened when the gun went off?” asked Fletcher.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why it happened,” sobbed Ip.

“Do you remember pulling the trigger?” asked his attorney.

“No,” answered Ip softly.

“Did you pull the trigger?” asked Fletcher.

“I guess so. . . . It happened so fast,” said Ip.

He said he went to work the next day, not knowing that Yokes had been killed. Ip said he was “very sad” to learn of the boy’s death.

“Why didn’t you turn yourself in?” asked his attorney.

“I was thinking, being a Chinese, I wouldn’t be treated fair,” answered the defendant.

Ip said he went to the Los Angeles area, where he threw away the gun because “I didn’t want to see the gun anymore.” He eventually surrendered two weeks later in San Diego.

“It should never have been this way,” said the defendant.

Endsley, the passenger with Yokes, denied last week that he had yelled any profanity at Ip. Deborah Lichty, the driver, admitted she had displayed an obscene gesture to Ip.

More defense testimony will continue today.