An 18-year-old Ogden man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in the shooting of another man during a fight between feuding youth groups. The plea Wednesday by Tyrone Jason Lemons clears the way for a jury trial on March 26.
Lemons is accused of firing a 12-gauge shotgun at Pete Romero Jr., 19. The shooting at 3:15 a.m. Aug. 26 in Ogden's John Affleck Park was the culmination of a night of feuding between two groups of teenagers Ogden police said had been squabbling for more than a year.Events began with Romero and a group of five or six friends attending a party at a house on 28th Street and Madison Avenue.
A verbal confrontation led to bottles being thrown, police said. Romero's group left for the park on Wall Avenue and 39th Street, where words were exchanged and five shots fired from a pump-action shotgun at Romero's group.
Romero was the only person hit. He was struck in the left side of the head from about 25 feet away. Hospitalized for a long time in St. Benedict's Hospital, Romero now is confined to a nursing home, unable to communicate.