Man Told Pumpkin Thief, ‘I’ll Blow Your Brains Out,’ Prosecutor Says

The trial of a Buena Park homeowner accused of murdering a teenager over the theft of a plastic Halloween pumpkin began Monday with a prosecutor telling jurors the man threatened to kill the boy moments before shooting him with a .357 magnum revolver.

In previewing the case against Peter Tavita Solomona, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Carlisle-Raines said a witness would testify that Solomona flew into a rage when he confronted the 17-year-old boy, and then said, “Don’t get smart with me or I’ll blow your brains out.”

But defense attorney Mark Werksman told the jury that the shooting was accidental, not the premeditated and intentional murder that prosecutors contend it was. The defendant, Werksman said, is a doting grandfather, “a gentle, decent, kind and loving family man.”

Much of the testimony during the estimated weeklong trial is expected to center on Solomona’s state of mind when he shot Brandon Ketsdever, a popular athlete at Kennedy High in La Palma. The shooting stunned residents in the quiet neighborhood and attracted nationwide attention, fueling the continuing debate over gun control.

Solomona, who is free on $250,000 bail, has always said last year’s shooting was a tragic accident. During opening arguments before the jury, his attorney said, “He’s not a killer. He’s not a violent person. The gun discharged, but it discharged by accident.”

But Carlisle-Raines said Solomona acted deliberately. The teenage victim, Carlisle-Raines said, was strapped into his car seat and never had a chance to run away or defend himself. Ketsdever was guilty only of participating in an innocent prank, she said.

“He was being a kid, fooling around on the streets of Buena Park, and by 9 p.m. he had been fatally injured by a copper-jacketed bullet fired from a gun held no more than six inches from his temple,” she said.

The tragic chain of events on Oct. 18, 1999, began when Ketsdever and two of his friends stole the plastic pumpkin from Solomona’s frontyard and sped off in their car. Afterward, the teens got into an altercation with another motorist, and a chase ensued.

The pursuit, by coincidence, ended back in front of Solomona’s house.

Frank Nelson, a passenger who was grazed by the bullet, testified Monday that Solomona looked calm when he approached the boys’ car, carrying a revolver. Nelson, who often wiped away tears during his testimony, said Solomona asked several times where his pumpkin was, then leaned in the car window and pointed the gun at Ketsdever.

“He put it up next to his head . . . like this,” Nelson said, extending his arm as if holding a gun.

“What happened next?” Carlisle-Raines asked.

“The gun went off,” Nelson testified.

Nelson said he jumped out of the car, terrified, and then Solomona pointed the gun at him. He said Solomona was disarmed by family members. “If he would have shot at me, it would have hit me,” he said.

Under cross-examination, Nelson admitted he didn’t hear Solomona threaten his friend. But he said he may not have heard everything because he was on the other side of the car.

Solomona, a short, burly man dressed in a charcoal-gray business suit, looked somber throughout the hearing and often closed his eyes during Nelson’s testimony.

His attorney said the shooting was the culmination of a series of bizarre coincidences. He said Solomona had removed the gun from his home and put it in his car because he was going to take it to a gun shop. He said he had spent the day playing miniature golf with his granddaughter, who was 4 then.

Werksman said he would call several character witnesses. Solomona, 49, is also expected to testify in his own defense. If convicted, Solomona could be sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.

Carlisle-Raines would not say when she plans to call the witness who allegedly heard Solomona threaten the teenager.