Shyrehl Joseph Wesley and Sheffah Shaddai Chevis

A man and woman were held equally liable in the death of their friend and ordered to face murder charges at the end of a hearing on January 24th.

Charon (left) and Wesley in a convenience store evidence photo

Shyrehl Joseph Wesley, 21, and Sheffah Shaddai Chevis, 19, were both ordered to face trial for the murder of D'Angelo Maurice Charon, 21, whose body was found on the side of a road in San Diego’s North County early the morning of July 12, 2017. The shirtless, bloody man was found in the 29000 block of Twin Oaks Valley Road, in a rural part of Vista, about a mile from the 15 freeway.

Charon suffered gunshot wounds to his left thigh, his chest, and the back of his head, according to Dr. Steven Campman, who performed the autopsy. The doctor said he found lacerations to the deceased man’s face and head, and he confirmed the prosecutor’s speculation that the injuries could have been from “pistol whipping.”

Dr. Campman described the gunshot wounds.

Charon was described as “the best friend of” and “like a brother” to defendant Wesley, and the two young men both lived in Wesley’s family home, in the 3700 block of Alabama Street in San Diego, according to testimony. The victim was said to be considered “like an adopted son” of the family, according to testimony.

Wesley was recently paroled from a California prison, after he was convicted for armed robbery in 2014 when he was 18, the prosecutor has alleged.

The attorney for Chevis presented her as a young woman who was dominated by her criminal boyfriend Wesley. Attorney Matthew Mohun described Chevis as a “good girl” who was 18 years old at the time of the incident last summer, and Mohun wondered aloud how anyone can explain the behavior of a teenager.

Defense attorney Matthew Mohun argued for an accessory-after-the-fact charge instead of murder.

Chevis reputedly had a loving, supportive family and was a cheerleader and high-school graduate who had been accepted to university, her attorney told the court. Her family was unaware she had been dating Wesley, a man who already had a wife plus a “baby momma,” according to attorney Mohun. He said Chevis’s family believed she was working an overnight babysitting job the night of the murder.

But Chevis borrowed her mom’s car and drove herself, Wesley, and Charon all around San Diego County that night, according to the prosecutor, who referred to cell-phone records and receipts collected from the dead man’s pockets.

Prosecutor Keith Watanabe suggested it was Chevis who had possession of the murder weapon, a .40 caliber Hi-Point semiautomatic, and she kept the gun inside a red bag seen in surveillance video at different stops the trio made. The prosecutor alleges the handgun was recovered from the Clairemont home where Chevis lived with her parents and family.

Prosecutor Keith Watanabe does not believe Chevis was an innocent bystander.

Watanabe speculated that the assault on Charon began in the backseat of Chevis’s mother’s car, where investigators found blood spots. After the body was found at about 5 a.m. July 12th, investigators found more blood near the deceased man, and one broken fingernail — later matched to the manicured left hand of Chevis, photographed during her arrest.

The young woman changed her story several times when she was interviewed, according to testimony by sheriff’s detectives. Other persons made statements to investigators hinting that Charon had made enemies with “some Mexicans” who might have harmed him, detectives said.

Prosecutor Watanabe argued that Chevis was not a delicate, shrinking female who stayed in the car while the men argued and fought to a deadly conclusion: he described her as an active participant who helped plan the crime and dispose of evidence — the victim’s cell phone —Watanabe asserted that Chevis made a special drive to Mission Bay to toss the evidence.

Judge David Danielsen, listening to attorneys

Defense attorney Mohun pleaded with the court, trying to limit the charges against his client Chevis to “accessory after the fact.” Her supportive family and friends filled half the seats in the courtroom.

But judge David J. Danielsen remarked, “I think we are all caught up with her stories and web of lies” when he ordered both defendants to face trial for murder. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges and are expected back in San Diego’s North County Courthouse on February 2nd.