WESTMINSTER : 2 Plead Not Guilty to Hate Crime, Murder Counts
Two white teen-agers pleaded not guilty to murder and hate crime charges Thursday in the killing of a black man.
Jonathan Russell Kennedy, 19, of Huntington Beach, and Robert Wolford, 17, of Laguna Niguel, are charged with murder in the shooting death of Vernon W. Flournoy, 44, of Huntington Beach.
Prosecutors amended the murder complaint Wednesday to add a separate hate crime count against the accused killers.
Kennedy’s attorney denied that the killing was racially motivated.
“This had nothing to do with race,” said Deputy Public Defender Sharon Petrosino. “It didn’t matter that the victim in the homicide was black. I think the evidence will show it was self-defense.”
Deputy Dist. Atty. James Tanizaki disagreed. “We definitely feel this is a hate crime.”
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