“What evidence is there in this case that he thought that?” how about this? believed that Samantha Brewers is having sex with on April 20th, 2019 and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It may not have been important to Samantha, but it was important to the defendant.’ Where did that come from? What evidence is there? Nothing. How about this? ‘Any time they would have sex, it was important to the defendant. “No text messages, no emails - nothing, after March 25. Samantha Brewers certainly did not testify to that. Absolutely nothing there’s nothing in this record March 25th on that suggests that,” Porter told the jury.
“‘In his mind, they were going to getting back together’ is a claim worth pursuing? Where did that come from? What evidence is there? There’s nothing. Buggs sat stoic beside Hefling at the front of the courtroom. Partch’s mother, Brenda, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as the events of the night were recounted again by prosecutors. Porter called the murders “heinous” as Partch and Miller were defenseless at the time of their deaths.
Prosecutor David Porter argued that none of the evidence exhibited during the trial pointed to the possibility that the murders were not premeditated. The two were later found by Partch’s roommate, who returned home from a weekend away. Miller was shot at once at close range, according to investigators. Partch was shot at four times, though only two bullets struck him, including the fatal shot. The defense attorneys asked jurors to consider downgrading the murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, the difference coming down to Buggs’ state of mind at the time he committed the murders. Hill said Buggs mistook Miller for Brewers and, upon hearing Miller and Partch being intimate in the latter’s Newport Beach condominium, killed the two out of a blind rage. But, Buggs continued to keep an eye on Partch. Buggs later called Partch, telling him to stay away from Brewers. But, Buggs, fueled by jealousy, continued to keep tabs on Brewers and her subsequent relationships. Prosecutors said that ended by early 2019. Hill reiterated much of what co-counsel Sarah Hefling said in her opening remarks at the start of the trial in April, maintaining that the murders were not premeditated as prosecutors have said, but was instead a crime of passion fueled by what was described as a “toxic” relationship between Buggs and his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Brewers.īuggs and Brewers’ shared an on-and-off relationship, beginning in Riverside in 2017. Hill said the sole issue before jurors will be deciding on is the degree to which Buggs could be held responsible for his actions on April 20, 2019. In his closing remarks, attorney Michael Hill said the case was not a “whodunnit” and reaffirmed that the defense did not claim another party committed the murders.
After a week of hearing the testimonies of police and over a dozen witnesses, a jury on Monday began deliberations at the Harbor Justice Center in the case of Jamon Rayon Buggs, who stands accused of murdering Darren Partch and Wendi Miller in a Newport Beach condominium in 2019.īuggs, 47, is charged with attempted first-degree burglary, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and murder with additional sentencing enhancements for using a firearm and committing multiple murders.īuggs denied all charges and pleaded not guilty in February last year, but his attorneys Monday said they did not contest the accusations that Buggs killed Partch, 38, and Miller, 48.