An 18-year-old Straight Edge gang member pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing Bernard Repreza last Halloween.
Colin C. Reesor's murder trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday. Instead, a noticeably shaken Reesor broke down several times as he admitted to 3rd District Judge William Barrett that he intentionally stabbed Repreza.Reesor was one of three Straight Edgers -- a group of mostly white, middle-class teens who profess to shun drugs, alcohol and premarital sex -- who were involved in the Oct. 31 fight near the corner of State Street and 100 South that resulted in Repreza's stabbing death.
Barrett allowed Reesor to remain free on $50,000 bail until his sentencing Dec. 15.
He was released from jail in April.
Repreza's stepfather, Gordon Clayton, said he was happy Reesor finally admitted his guilt but doesn't think it was right that he was not taken into custody immediately.
"Here's a kid that through a preliminary (hearing) was found more than likely to be involved in this. In six weeks, he could go to Disneyland, and we got nothing," Clayton said. "Personally, I think that if he is stepping up to the plate, saying 'yes your honor I did this,' then the bailiff should come up behind him and put the handcuffs on him."
Prosecutor Paul Parker said he didn't believe it necessary to ask that Reesor be placed in custody, saying that the eventual penalty is expected to be "far beyond the prescribed penalty." He would not comment on how strong a case he had against Reesor, because cases are pending against two others involved in the slaying.
Andrew D. Moench, 19, and Sean Parley Darger, 18, were also ordered to stand trial on the same charges for allegedly killing Repreza, 15. Moench's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21; Darger's Nov. 17.
Reesor's defense attorney, Brad Rich, said no arrangement had been made for his client to testify against Moench and Darger. "He will certainly, if asked to testify, tell the truth," Rich said.
Even without Reesor's plea, Clayton said he was confident a jury would have found the man guilty of murder during a trial.
"When Colin came up and stabbed my son, my son was unconscious," Clayton said. "I sat through the preliminary hearing, which was hard, I had to make myself stay there. It was very hard seeing kids testifying. Personally, I think I would have rather sat through a trial that would have lasted three days, and then he would have been found guilty."
Repreza's mother, Conchita Romero, who was by her son's side during his last breaths at the hospital, said Reesor's guilty plea brings some comfort.
"Sometimes I feel sorry for the parents of Colin. But for me, I want these guys to go to jail as soon as possible," Romero said. "Nothing can bring back Bernard. I'll never see Bernard again -- no grandchildren, nothing.
"I know this is no end, but I want to see these people in jail. I miss my baby, every day that passes I miss him more and more."
During the preliminary hearing, Jaynell Cooper testified that on the night of Oct. 31, 1998, he was traveling in the passenger seat of a car on State Street near 100 South when a group of kids standing in the corner spit on him and yelled racial epithets. Cooper exited his car and confronted the kids, he said.
Justin Cunningham, 15, who was among the 20 to 30 Straight Edgers on the sidewalk, said he heard Cooper say, "Do you guys wanna be dripping in blood?"
At that moment, a fight broke out. One of Cooper's friends began to beat a kid on the sidewalk, Cunningham testified.
Cooper's group eventually tried to leave, but their car stalled around the corner on 100 South. Everybody in his car and another car behind, including the victim, got out and began to fight with the Straight Edgers. During the melee, Cooper was stabbed in the right thigh with a machete, he said.
Cunningham said he and other kids ran to a parking lot on the north side of 100 South where he engaged in a fistfight with Cooper. At the same time, some kids were beating Darger, while Darger defended himself with a "spring billy," a metal club that extends or retracts to increase its length.
Moench, holding a bat-like object, and Jason Cunningham, holding a baton, went after the group attacking Darger and ended up chasing Repreza across the street, Cunningham said. Before reaching the other side, Repreza turned around and fell on his back onto the south sidewalk.
Prosecutors say Moench struck Repreza repeatedly with a bat, and Reesor used a 4-inch blade to pierce the fallen Repreza below the left ribcage.
Sean Mendenhall, 16, testified he fled the scene in a vehicle packed with other Straight Edgers. In the back seat, Reesor slouched over with his head on his lap while holding a bloodied knife.
"He said he thought he'd just stabbed a kid or something like that," Mendenhall said.
Jason Cunningham, 18, was sentenced in July to 60 days in jail and 150 days of home confinement. Cunningham was originally charged in juvenile court for his involvement, but as part of a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, in adult court.