Pumpkin Theft Gunman Faces Murder Charge

A Buena Park homeowner who fatally shot a 17-year-old he suspected of stealing a Halloween decoration was charged with murder Wednesday during an emotion-laden court hearing crowded by friends and relatives of both the suspect and victim.

Prosecutors are seeking the maximum charges possible against Pete Tavita Solomona, who insists he accidentally fired one shot into a Ford Escort carrying three teenage boys. Minutes earlier, the boys had swiped a plastic light-up pumpkin from his front yard. But one of the boys said in an interview Wednesday that the shooting was intentional.

The charges rekindled debate throughout Solomona’s Buena Park neighborhood, where residents are trying to understand how a devout Mormon and popular family man could now face a possible 50 years to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors, however, said Solomona’s actions--especially his decision to confront the teenagers on the street with a loaded revolver--showed such negligence and disregard for the safety of others that murder charges are merited.

“Based on the evidence we had, and the fact that he used a loaded .357 magnum handgun, which is a very powerful handgun, we came to the conclusion that this should be a murder case,” said Tori Richards, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Solomona’s attorney, however, called the shooting a tragic accident and said his client is devastated over his role in the death of Brandon Ketsdever, a popular Kennedy High School senior.

“The horror of what happened is affecting him deeply,” said attorney Mark Werksman. “It’s tragic but it was an accident. He didn’t go out to kill anybody. He went out to get his pumpkin back.”

At the afternoon court hearing in Fullerton, Solomona’s wife and adult daughter wept as the 47-year-old entered the courtroom in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit. He pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one of assault with a deadly weapon.

On the other side of the courtroom, family and friends of Brandon sat quietly sobbing during the hearing.

Solomona himself shed a tear when Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett refused to reduce his $250,000 bail and issued an order barring the defendant from contacting the two other teens in the car who survived the shooting.

Meanwhile, one of the two teens revealed Wednesday in an interview how he and his friends had mistaken Solomona’s home for that of an old friend when they grabbed the 3 1/2-foot ornament as a prank Monday night.

Afterward, the teens got into an altercation with another motorist, who chased them through the neighborhood about a mile from Knott’s Berry Farm, he said. They had mistaken the motorist as a friend and had infuriated him by throwing a magazine at his car, he said.

The chase ended right outside the gunman’s house.

Brandishing a revolver, Solomona began yelling at the boys, standing no more than an arm’s length from the car, recalled the teen. Without warning, the gun fired, he said.

“I looked over at Brandon, his head was slumped,” he said. A relative of Solomona, the teenager said, tried to wrestle the gun away.

“He was wrestling, trying to aim at us, and [my friend] is yelling, ‘Please, God, don’t shoot us!’ ” he said. “We didn’t mean anything. He came right up to the window and pointed the gun at my friend.”

The driver of the other car drove away after the gunshot, according to the teen and other witnesses.

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On Wednesday morning, by the roadside where Brandon was shot, the teen placed a letter addressed to his friend expressing sorrow over the killing. “I would have taken your place in a heartbeat,” he wrote. “I’m sorry. Everyone is trying to tell me that it was a sign or that it was done for a reason. All I have to say is that it should not have been you.”

Solomona’s family declined to comment on the shooting, but a longtime friend said she could not believe that Solomona would intentionally fire a weapon at someone.

“I definitely feel that it must have been an accident. I can’t see him aiming a gun at someone and shooting on purpose,” said Karen Brunner, who has known Solomona for 15 years through church. “He’s a big man, but he’s like a teddy bear inside.”

Brunner said Solomona was an active member of their local Mormon Church, and that she and her husband had played church-sponsored baseball and volleyball games alongside Solomona and his wife.

Solomona’s attorney said his client had no criminal record and never intended to harm anyone when he confronted the three boys on Monday evening despite being armed with the handgun.

“He may have been carrying it for his own protection. He may have been carrying it as a prop to scare the kids. He didn’t intend to hurt anybody. The gun went off accidentally,” Werksman said.

“To elevate the accidental discharge of a weapon to murder does seem a bit draconian, a bit heavy-handed,” he added.

Werksman said he wants prosecutors to conduct tests of the revolver to determine whether it has a hair trigger and how much pressure would be needed to fire the weapon.

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The killing has shaken the neighborhood where Solomona lived for about three years, neighbors said.

“It’s bad all around,” said Eric Nicholson, Solomona’s next-door neighbor. “It was an accident, but something you have to pay the price for. You’re still responsible for your actions.”

But the teen in the car with Ketsdever insisted that Solomona fired his weapon on purpose. The man was standing only an arm’s length from Brandon, pointing the loaded revolver at the boy, he said. Those who contend the shooting was an accident--mostly friends and neighbors of Solomona--are wrong, he said.

“Of course they’re going to say it was an accident,” the teen said, “but you have to pull the trigger.”