PORT HUENEME : Boy, 14, Found Guilty in Shooting of Grocery Manager

Ventura County Juvenile Court Judge Robert Soares found a 14-year-old Port Hueneme boy guilty of attempted murder in the Aug. 6 shooting of a convenience store worker four days after the former chief petty officer retired from the Navy, authorities said Wednesday.

The boy, whose name was withheld because of his age, also was found guilty of robbery, auto theft, weapons and assault charges stemming from the 3:30 a.m. holdup at the Circle K on East Pleasant Valley Road, a Port Hueneme police spokeswoman said.

Shooting victim Floyd DeBat, 43, of Camarillo, welcomed the verdict Wednesday, saying he testified about the incident and his resulting disability during the one-day trial Monday.

The boy shot DeBat once in the back in the store parking lot, even though DeBat handed the boy $50 from the register.

“I gave him the money, but he took me outside and shot me anyway,” said DeBat.

DeBat, a New Orleans native, retired from the Navy Aug. 2 after 20 years in the service, the last 17 at Port Hueneme.

He had begun a job as a management trainee on the graveyard shift just three days before the shooting.

The bullet fractured a piece of vertebra and lodged in his spine. While he has regained mobility, his doctors have not given him approval to return to work and are waiting to see if surgery to remove the slug will be necessary, he said.

“It hurts if I put pressure on the spot,” DeBat said.

Police originally described the assailant as a man age 18 to 20. The boy eluded capture until last month, when DeBat said he identified him from police photographs.

DeBat said the boy lived in the neighborhood near the store. He had been driving a car stolen in Los Angeles that Port Hueneme police later recovered after a hit-and-run accident Sept. 25.