STANTON : Alleged Attacker Pleads Not Guilty

A 17-year-old Anaheim youth pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he inflicted the blows that left 15-year-old Amber Jefferson with a disfiguring facial injury.

Orange County Municipal Judge Frank F. Fasel ordered Kurt David Wimberly held in lieu of $50,000 bond. The youth is scheduled to appear in court again next Tuesday when a judge will decide whether to reduce his bail.

Earlier this week, a juvenile court judge gave prosecutors the go-ahead to try Wimberly as an adult in the racially charged case. He is accused of throwing a piece of glass that left the Garden Grove girl with a deep gash that runs the length of her face. Wimberly, who will turn 18 next month, has been in custody since the Aug. 7 brawl, which occurred in the parking lot of a Stanton apartment complex.

He is charged with felony mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, infliction of great bodily injury and battery. Three others were also charged in connection with the incident. Wimberly’s father, 42-year-old Earl Wimberly, was charged with assault and exhibiting a deadly weapon, and Trevor McClure, 21, was charged with exhibiting a deadly weapon and challenging to fight. Prosecutors said all three fought a group of people that included Amber Jefferson.

On Amber’s side, Lewis Jones, 19, was charged with fighting in public and malicious mischief.

Both the elder Wimberly and Jones are free on bail. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for McClure, who disappeared shortly after the incident.

According to authorities, as many as 12 people were involved in the fighting outside Wimberly’s apartment in which youths on both sides armed themselves with bats and boards. Amber was the only one injured.