Slain Youth’s Brother Tells of Confrontation

Using sign language, a hearing-impaired Palmdale man described in court Thursday how he was shot and his hearing-impaired brother was killed by a 16-year-old Long Beach boy in a street confrontation in Granada Hills.

The testimony came during a preliminary hearing for Joey Paul Bellinger, now 17, who is accused of the murder of Cesar Vieira, 30, of Palmdale, and the attempted murder of Edward Vieira, 26.

The hearing concluded with San Fernando Municipal Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus ordering Bellinger to stand trial on both counts.

The shooting occurred after the Vieira brothers, who were on a motorcycle, pulled into a shopping center parking lot at Devonshire Street and Balboa Boulevard after they had exchanged shouts with other youths in the car carrying Bellinger.

Edward Vieira was shot once in the left shoulder and once in the hip.

“Joey was behind the car, pointing the gun,” Edward Vieira testified through a sign-language interpreter. “I saw muzzle flashes. My brother seemed to be hurt and then there were more shots, and my brother fell to the ground.”

After Bellinger and the others sped off in their car, Vieira said, “I went to look at my brother and I just freaked out. Then I felt very funny. I took off my jacket and realized I was shot. I was surprised.”

Vieira admitted that he had spit at the passenger window facing Bellinger.

Vieira said he did this after one of the car’s occupants threw something at him.

But Vieira said he followed the car into the parking lot because he “was trying to be cool. I didn’t want to start anything.” He said after he and his brother got off the motorcycle, one of the car’s occupants approached them and knocked the motorcycle over.

Witnesses at Thursday’s hearing gave conflicting testimony about what led to the shooting.

Vieira said he and his brother were walking backward, away from the car, when they were shot, but two teen-agers who were with Bellinger--Joseph Parody and Inna Spivak--testified that the brothers were moving toward Bellinger in a menacing manner.

Bellinger was arrested March 2 at the residence of a family friend in Upstate New York, where he had fled after the shooting.

His parents, Joseph Bellinger Sr. and Phyllis Goodman, pleaded no contest in June to helping their son escape.

They were fined $1,100 and ordered to perform community service.