Accused Hillcrest Killer Pleads Not Guilty

An unemployed North Park man accused in the fatal stabbing of a high school student in what prosecutors say was a hate crime pleaded not guilty Friday to murder charges.

Eddie Barton, 25, of the 3700 block of Florida Street, was arraigned before Municipal Judge Nicholas Kasimatis, who ordered him held in lieu of $1 million bail until a July 24 preliminary hearing.

Barton is charged with the Dec. 13 stabbing death of 17-year-old John Robert Wear, whose killing sparked the Hillcrest community to mobilize against a rash of crimes against homosexuals.

Although victims told police that the attackers wore short hair and combat boots, Barton did not fit the description of a skinhead during his court appearance Friday. Wear had longer brown hair and light-colored goatee.

Before slaying Wear and attacking two other people, Barton called each person a “faggot,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregg McClain said.

Wear was killed as he walked with two friends near 10th Avenue and Essex Street in Hillcrest while on their way to a coffee house.

“We are convinced that the crime was also the result of the victim’s perceived sexual preference,” McClain said.

The prosecutor said he is investigating another person in the case, but that “it appears that person was standing off to the side” when Wear was stabbed.

Barton pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of a hate-motivated battery and battery with serious injury stemming from two separate attacks the same night Wear was killed.