Witnesses Recall Shooting of Girl at Youth’s Murder Trial : Court: Two testify that the victim, 16, had begged her boyfriend not to point gun at her. Defendant admits to three of 10 felony charges.

Sixteen-year-old Jacqueline Reay of Thousand Oaks begged her gun-toting teen-age boyfriend to stop pointing the weapon at her only moments before it discharged and took her life, two witnesses testified Monday as the defendant’s Juvenile Court trial began.

“She said, ‘Don’t point the gun at me because I’m nervous around guns,’ ” testified Brandon Best, 16, who rushed to Jacqueline’s aid after the shooting.

Monday’s trial for the 17-year-old defendant, also from Thousand Oaks, began with the youth entering guilty admissions to three of the 10 felony charges in the case.

The admissions in front of Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. were to one count of brandishing a firearm and two counts of assault.

That leaves the youth facing one count of murder, one count of brandishing a firearm and three counts of assault.

The charges are in connection with the death of Jacqueline, who died after being shot once in the eye with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun July 13, and other episodes of violence by the defendant over the last year.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn did not make an opening statement Monday, but called the husky defendant “a bully” outside court.

Concluding that the shooting was accidental, prosecutors have decided against charging the youth as an adult or seeking to have him convicted of first-degree murder.

They want Campbell to find him guilty of second-degree murder and order him detained in a juvenile prison until the age of 25. Police said the gun was stolen from the boy’s father, a former police officer.

Brandon and another teen-age witness testifying Monday supported the prosecution’s contention that the defendant is a bully who got his thrills by choking smaller companions and pointing the handgun at them.

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James Richardson, 13, said the defendant had intimidated him the day before Jacqueline’s shooting death.

The witness said that he and several other youths were at a friend’s house when the defendant grabbed him by the throat with one hand.

James testified that he had jokingly accused the defendant of wearing makeup, which he said did not sit well with the defendant.

As James sat on a sofa, the defendant leaned over him and started choking him for about 30 seconds, cutting off his air, James said. Later, he said, the defendant pulled his black handgun on another teen-ager, asking, “Would you be scared if I pointed it at your head right now?”

On the day of Jacqueline’s death, James said he was at another friend’s condominium watching a videocassette of “Wayne’s World” when the defendant arrived about noon. For several hours, the defendant had been pointing the firearm at Jacqueline, who pushed the barrel away and pleaded with him to stop, witnesses testified.

According to James, the defendant told Jacqueline, “If I shot you in the leg right now, it would hurt so bad that you would want me to kill you.”

After being threatened by the defendant several times, Jacqueline went to the upstairs of the two-story condominium and took a shower. The defendant followed her halfway up the stairs, pointing the gun at her all the while, the witnesses said.

They said Jacqueline, a dark-haired, effervescent girl, was shot when she returned to the downstairs portion of the home after showering.

James said that Jacqueline had walked into the kitchen when the defendant, from the living room, pointed the gun in that direction and shot her. Brandon, the other witness, said he did not even realize that Jacqueline had returned downstairs after the shower.

Brandon learned she was in the kitchen only after he ran in there once the defendant had fired the gun. Brandon said he had hoped the only damage would be a hole in the wall.

Instead, Brandon told the judge in a soft voice, he found his friend Jacqueline shot once in the head and slumped on the floor.

“Hey, you shot her!” Brandon said he yelled to the defendant, whom he added seemed stunned by his act.

“He was like in shock or something,” Brandon said. “His hand was still in the air, and he was looking toward the kitchen. He wasn’t moving or nothing.”

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As his friends testified against him, the defendant mostly hung his head. Friends of both the victim and the defendant are attending the trial, as are the defendant’s parents, who sat directly behind their son Monday in the first row of the court gallery.

The trial, which continues today, is expected to last until the end of the week.