Slain Officer’s Son Testifies He Feared for His Dad

When Dylon Brown, the young son of slain police officer Brian Brown, appeared in public during various memorials in 1998 for his father, his spunk and bravery in the face of heart-wrenching tragedy impressed all who saw him.

But on Friday, Dylon, now 10, spoke of the fear he had felt when his father went to work each day.

“I was afraid he would get hurt,” Dylon told jurors in Los Angeles County Superior Court who are deciding whether to recommend the death penalty for Jaime Mares, 23, a man convicted in the Los Angeles Police Department officer’s killing.

“I knew it was dangerous,” said Dylon, when asked by Deputy Dist. Atty. Keri Modder what he thought of his father’s profession. “I didn’t want him to do it.”

One juror dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as the youngster testified in a calm, articulate manner about how he would especially miss his father during Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving.

In two days of testimony, several other Brown family members have broken into tears themselves as they have testified how the death of the 27-year-old officer has affected their lives. And at times, jurors also have openly wept.

The jury is hearing testimony to help decide whether Mares should receive the death penalty or be imprisoned for life.

Mares, who prosecutors say was a member of the Inglewood-13 gang, was convicted of driving the car involved in the shooting of Brown and a passerby, Gerardo Sernas, 18, on Nov. 29, 1998, on Centinela Avenue. The Sernas drive-by shooting sparked a gun battle with police that led to the death of Brown and the triggerman, Oscar Zatarain, 29, another member of the Inglewood-13 gang.

Prosecutors told the jury that convicted Mares of murder this week that Mares and Zatarain were attempting to retaliate for a shooting the night before in which one of their friends was wounded.

Mares claimed he was tricked by Zatarain into participating and was then forced at gunpoint to flee the scene of the Sernas shooting.

Relatives Try to Explain Loss

In trying to show that Mares should get death, prosecutors have asked family members to explain how the killings of Brown and Sernas have affected their lives. They have also presented testimony that Mares has been involved in violent crimes in the past.

Prosecutors say Mares also was the driver in a drive-by shooting in 1993, in which at least one person was wounded, and was involved in a robbery in 1996.

When Dylon testified, he talked about how he and his father spent a lot of time together fishing, going trick-or-treating on Halloween and roller blading. He said they were working on a Cub Scout pine box derby car, but didn’t get to finish it together because his dad was killed.

‘I See Him in My Dreams’

On Thursday, Brown’s mother, Emily Calvert, and his father, Dennis Brown, often broke down in tears as they testified about how they think about their son almost daily.

Dennis Brown, a hospital nurse, said he was unable to go back to work for nine months because of the depression he suffered after his son’s death.

“I see him in my dreams, and I hug him and tell him I love him,” he said. “And he says, ‘Dad, I love you too,’ and then I wake up crying.”

Brown and his wife, April, are now raising Dylon.

Next week, the defense plans to call about 10 witnesses before the jury begins deliberations.