Athlete Pleads Guilty in Girlfriend’s Slaying

A former Fullerton College football player has pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder in helping cover up the slaying of his pregnant girlfriend last year in Las Vegas.

Anthony James, 21, pleaded guilty Monday, just days after his friend and teammate was convicted of firing the shot that killed Amy Tuttle in her Las Vegas apartment May 27, 1994. James admitted that he witnessed the shooting and that he helped Malcolm Gray, 21, lie about what happened.

James also took the witness stand last week to testify against Gray, who was convicted of second-degree murder Friday.

“Accessory is exactly what Anthony is,” said James’ attorney, Andrew Myers. “That means you did something about concealing or covering the crime up. In the end, I think he got exactly what he deserved.”

Gray testified last week that he shot the 20-year-old Tuttle accidentally after he put a gun to her head to intimidate her while she argued with James about whether to have an abortion, said Gray’s attorney, Paul E. Wommer.

Wommer said his client admitted taking all six bullets out of his .38-caliber revolver and then putting one bullet back, thinking the chamber would rotate clockwise and give him “five empty clicks.” Instead, the chamber turned counterclockwise, sending a live round through Tuttle’s left temple.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Roger said Gray’s testimony, and physical evidence that showed the gun was pressed to Tuttle’s head, was so damaging that the jury at first deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a first-degree murder conviction before agreeing on the lesser offense of second-degree murder.

Gray also wrote letters to James in jail admitting that he was the shooter, Roger said.

Both James and Gray, of Corona, had joined the Fullerton College football team as walk-on players, James as a running back and Gray as a linebacker.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.