Man Sentenced in Fatal Beating of Teen

After a jury found him guilty last month in the beating death of an Oxnard teenager last summer, Donald William Brown was given a prison sentence of 15 years to life Thursday by Judge Arturo Gutierrez.

Brown, 20, of Oxnard, was convicted Jan. 23 of second-degree murder stemming from the fatal stomping of 17-year-old Jaime Morales last July 25.

According to Oxnard police, three men chased Morales down an alley near N and Hill streets in south Oxnard, where he was beaten to death. The noise startled residents who later found the injured teen lying in the street and called authorities.

Two other suspects, Terrence Brumfield and Fred Williams Sr., both of Port Hueneme, were arrested in August and later released because of sketchy evidence, Oxnard police said.

Brown, who fled to Jacksonville, Fla., after the slaying, turned himself in to authorities last fall after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Investigators said police issued the warrant after Brown admitted to his father and a neighbor that he had participated in the beating. Additionally, investigators recovered Brown’s blood-stained shoes, which they say were used to stomp and kick Morales.

The killing shocked the Oxnard neighborhood where the boy lived. Family members said that Morales, who was a former gang member, had turned his back on that lifestyle and was just beginning to turn his life around. The Morales family was unavailable for comment Thursday. Morales’ murder was just one in a spate of gang-related slayings last year. Six of the 18 slayings reported in Oxnard in 1996 were connected to gangs, police said.