2 Guilty of Trying to Kill Student : Courts: They face up to 13 years in prison for attack stemming from feud between schools.

An Orange County Superior Court jury convicted two young men Wednesday of attempting to kill a former Santa Margarita High School football player by beating and repeatedly stabbing him as they sought revenge against a rival school.

Defendants Derek Thomas Jones, 20, of Huntington Beach and Russell Takeo Scarce, 19, of Lake Forest face a maximum 13 years in state prison for their part in the August, 1994, attack on Ruben Charles Vaughan III.

As relatives of Jones and Scarce held hands and wept and the two defendants fought to keep their composure, the jury announced its decision after about four hours of deliberation.

Outside the courtroom, several jurors said it was a difficult verdict, given the defendants’ youthfulness. They added, however, that the injuries Vaughan suffered convinced them that the two defendants had tried to kill him.

“It’s a sad reflection on our society today,” said juror Nancy Livingston of Irvine. “I’ve got an 18-year-old son myself, and it’s disturbing that this kind of thing can happen.”

Prosecutors charged that Jones and Scarce were members of a crowd of as many as 30 graduates or students of El Toro High School who attacked Vaughan and five other students from Santa Margarita High School because of a long-running feud between the two schools.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Anderson said that Scarce had been involved in an earlier fight with other Santa Margarita High School students and that he and the others who attacked Vaughan had been looking for another fight as revenge for the confrontation.

The group from Santa Margarita High School had been searching for a party in a Portola Hills neighborhood when they crossed paths with the other group. During the attack, Vaughan became separated from the others, Anderson said.

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Scarce grabbed a pry bar from a friend and hit Vaughan on the head, slashing open his face and knocking him to his knees, Anderson said. Vaughan managed to stumble up onto the porch of a nearby house, where Jones then stabbed him repeatedly, Anderson said.

Investigators said that both Jones and Scarce admitted to their roles in the melee. Vaughan, who was 15 at the time of the attack, suffered a broken jaw and nose and seven stab wounds to his back.

Vaughan and his father, Melvin Aaron, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Vaughan now attends Foothill High School in Tustin.

In addition to attempted murder charges, Jones and Scarce were convicted of felony assault and battery, inflicting great bodily injury and use of a deadly weapon.

Scarce was also convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery for punching another Santa Margarita High School student during the fight. His attorney, Cathy Jensen, said Scarce could face an additional six months in prison on the misdemeanor convictions.

Anderson said he was pleased with the verdicts.

“Both these guys are responsible for attempting to kill Ruben Vaughan,” he said. While Anderson acknowledged that the two are young, he insisted: “These guys are men, there’s no doubt about it.”

Prosecutors had been urged to file hate-crime charges against the two, but said there was insufficient evidence to prove that race was a motivating factor in the assault on Vaughan, who is African American. The decision prompted some fierce criticism by local minority leaders who pointed to evidence that during the attack someone in the mob had shouted a racial slur.

Anderson said that despite the epithet, investigators concluded that school rivalry, not racism, was the prime motive for the attack.

Scarce’s father, William R. Scarce, insisted outside the courtroom that his son is not racist. The elder Scarce said that contrary to an investigator’s report, his son never confessed to hitting Vaughan with the pry bar and had no wish that night to kill anyone.

“I am devastated,” Scarce said, his eyes red from crying. “They got the fall guys--they didn’t get the right guys.”

Jensen said she plans to appeal the verdict. Deputy Public Defender Christopher Hilger, who represented Jones, said he has not yet decided on an appeal. The two are scheduled for sentencing March 31.