PORT HUENEME : Mother of Suspect Charged as Accessory

The mother of a Port Hueneme murder suspect has been charged with being an accessory after the crime because prosecutors believe she hid the weapon used in the killing.

Dolores Terry appeared Tuesday in Superior Court in response to an indictment handed down last week by the Ventura County grand jury. Her arraignment on the felony charge was postponed until Dec. 7, Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison said.

Indicted with Terry was her son, Zolly, 21, on charges of murder, attempted premeditated murder, use of a firearm and infliction of great bodily injury. The indictment of Zolly Terry supersedes the filing of identical charges against him in Ventura County Municipal Court last month and will allow his case to proceed to trial faster.

Zolly Terry is charged with the Oct. 24 slaying of Jerome Hurst, 25, and the attempted murder of Vernon Hunter, 27, both of Oxnard. Police said Hunter was romantically linked to Terry’s sister, who was pregnant, but Hunter was living with another woman when he was shot inside his apartment.

Hurst was killed in the same attack.

Ellison said police have been unable to find the .380 semiautomatic pistol used by the killer.

“We believe that Dolores Terry disposed of the murder weapon,” the prosecutor said. “We have witnesses that indicate that she went to the location where the defendant had hidden the gun and she re-obtained the gun, and it’s not been seen . . . since.”

Dolores Terry is free on her own recognizance. Zolly Terry is in the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

His Superior Court arraignment also has been postponed until Dec. 7.