Emotional Testimony From Witness to Slaying on Dana Strand : Homicide: Youth’s account of moments that preceded the shooting leaves him and victim’s family tearful.

Relatives of a teen-ager who was fatally shot in Dana Point in September wept during a Juvenile Court hearing Thursday as a friend of the victim described the final minutes leading up to the shooting.

The family of Robert Elliott, 18, who was shot to death Sept. 8 on Dana Strand, burst into tears during the testimony by Jeff Dash, 20, a friend of Elliott’s.

The hearing, which was in its fourth day Thursday, is to decide whether Christian Steffens, now 17, should be tried as an adult for the fatal shooting. The hearing recessed late Thursday afternoon and is not scheduled to resume until after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

In testimony Thursday, Dash told of being with Elliott on Dana Strand the day of the shooting.

Dash said he walked with Elliot to the beach and saw Steffens standing on the sand, holding a gun. He said he was “amazed” to see Steffens with a gun.

Dash said Steffens and Elliot exchanged words and then Steffens left with Elliot following. Steffens then turned and pointed the gun, Dash said.

At this point in his testimony, Dash paused to wipe tears from his eyes.

In the courtroom, Elliott’s mother, father and stepmother also began weeping, then left the room at the end of Dash’s testimony, hugged each other and collectively wept in the hall outside.

“This is very hard,” Elliott’s mother said, sobbing.

Elliott’s father later said of the emotional moment: “My son was murdered. You don’t understand what that’s like.”

Steffens’ mother and father also appeared grieved by the day’s testimony.

“It’s exhausting; it’s draining,” Cynthia Steffens said outside the courtroom.

She and Don Steffens, the youth’s father, said it was agonizing to see their son taken away in handcuffs, knowing he will not be with them at Christmas. The hearing as to whether Christian Steffens will be tried as an adult is not scheduled to resume until Jan. 9.

In the meantime, Steffens will remain in custody in Juvenile Hall. The tall, slim, blond youth is accused of fatally shooting Elliott in the chest after they argued on the beach.

According to court testimony, Elliott wanted vengeance on Steffens because he believed Steffens had broken a window of his truck in Dana Point. Steffens, according to court testimony, feared for his life because of threats from friends of Elliott, including a taunt yelled into a classroom at Dana Hills High, where Steffens was a junior.

Deputy Public Defender Marri Derby told Juvenile Court Judge Robert B. Hutson that the evidence indicates Steffens was acting in self-defense in the shooting and had been terrorized for years by threats from other Dana Point teen-agers. Derby said that some of those threats had come from Elliott’s friends.

“Our position is that Christian had been placed in fear over a lengthy period of time,” Derby said. “Rob (Elliott) probably had very little to do with the ongoing torment of Christian (Steffens). However, it’s this torment that made him more fearful than just over a truck window that had been broken three weeks previous. It’s (Steffens’) fear that is at issue: It’s his state of mind.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bernadette Cemore, however, has countered that the evidence indicates Steffens was the aggressor in the shooting of Elliott. Cemore contends that Steffens should be tried as an adult and thus be eligible for a lengthier sentence if convicted.

On the witness stand Thursday, Cynthia Steffens testified that her son had been terrified by some teen-agers for three years. Some of those teen-agers had shaved heads and wore bomber jackets, combat boots and chains, she said. Some of the teen-agers had also shot out her son’s bedroom window and verbally threatened her and her husband, she said.

She added that on Sept. 6, two days before the fatal shooting of Elliott, she came home to find her son cowering on the floor with the house darkened and locked. She testified that her son told her he was in fear of his life and needed a gun for protection.

“I told him that was not a good idea,” his mother said.

In response to a question from Derby, the mother said that she did not consider her son violence-prone.

But Cemore strenuously disagreed. She told Judge Hutson that when the hearing resumes in January, she will show a darker side to Christian Steffens.