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A tearful confession in Oceanside
Carey Lamont Reid Jr. could face death penalty
Carey Lamont – held without bail
A prosecutor said that Carey Lamont Reid Jr. cried and confessed to murdering a 77-year-old Oceanside man, and then he wrote an apology letter to the widow.
Widow Zui Pang, 41, with prosecutor Watanabe
Prosecutor Keith Watanabe spoke at the arraignment of Reid, now 21, who pleaded not-guilty to murdering John Anthony Roth. Special circumstances of murder-during-residential-burglary have been charged, which makes this case eligible for the death penalty.
It was August 14, when the elderly man was killed in his own home.
The elderly man was found on his couch, with stab wounds in his neck, in his three-story home in the 500 block of North Tremont Street. The victim’s wife, Zui Pang, 41, discovered her husband about 6 am that Tuesday, when she came home from her night work at a nursing home, police said.
The suspect was found last Sunday, October 21, after a caller reported seeing a “transient” sleeping in a parking lot. One of the responding Oceanside police officers happened to be detective Erik Ellgard, who is the lead investigator for the murder case. Reid was arrested at 515 North Coast Highway, across an alley from the crime scene.
Prosecutor Watanabe complained that it took the San Diego County Sheriff’s crime lab two months to come up with a DNA profile from a soda can that was found at the crime scene. When the DNA profile was put into the law enforcement search engine CODIS, it quickly matched a suspect from South Carolina, according to Watanabe. The murder suspect Carey Reid Jr. was found and arrested two days after his DNA was identified.
Prosecutor Watanabe said Reid is guilty of a “hot prowl” because he got away with loot stolen from an occupied home; the stolen articles allegedly included a purse and jewelry and valuable Chinese coins dating from the Ming dynasty.
The murder occurred three weeks before Reid turned 21. The defendant looks younger than his years, jail records describe him as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 130 pounds.
The prosecutor said that in his confession to investigators, Reid told officers he regretted his crime, admitting it was “stupid” and done in “anger.”
The widow Pang spoke to local news cameras after the court hearing. In a soft voice she praised her husband as a good, hardworking man. Watanabe mentioned that Pang met her future husband in China.
At the arraignment on Wednesday, October 24, the defendant was declared a danger to the community and a flight risk, and judge James E. Simmons Jr. ordered him held without bail.
Here's something you might be interested in.
A tearful confession in Oceanside
Carey Lamont Reid Jr. could face death penalty
A tearful confession in Oceanside
Carey Lamont Reid Jr. could face death penalty
Carey Lamont – held without bail
A prosecutor said that Carey Lamont Reid Jr. cried and confessed to murdering a 77-year-old Oceanside man, and then he wrote an apology letter to the widow.
Widow Zui Pang, 41, with prosecutor Watanabe
Prosecutor Keith Watanabe spoke at the arraignment of Reid, now 21, who pleaded not-guilty to murdering John Anthony Roth. Special circumstances of murder-during-residential-burglary have been charged, which makes this case eligible for the death penalty.
It was August 14, when the elderly man was killed in his own home.
The elderly man was found on his couch, with stab wounds in his neck, in his three-story home in the 500 block of North Tremont Street. The victim’s wife, Zui Pang, 41, discovered her husband about 6 am that Tuesday, when she came home from her night work at a nursing home, police said.
The suspect was found last Sunday, October 21, after a caller reported seeing a “transient” sleeping in a parking lot. One of the responding Oceanside police officers happened to be detective Erik Ellgard, who is the lead investigator for the murder case. Reid was arrested at 515 North Coast Highway, across an alley from the crime scene.
Prosecutor Watanabe complained that it took the San Diego County Sheriff’s crime lab two months to come up with a DNA profile from a soda can that was found at the crime scene. When the DNA profile was put into the law enforcement search engine CODIS, it quickly matched a suspect from South Carolina, according to Watanabe. The murder suspect Carey Reid Jr. was found and arrested two days after his DNA was identified.
Prosecutor Watanabe said Reid is guilty of a “hot prowl” because he got away with loot stolen from an occupied home; the stolen articles allegedly included a purse and jewelry and valuable Chinese coins dating from the Ming dynasty.
The murder occurred three weeks before Reid turned 21. The defendant looks younger than his years, jail records describe him as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 130 pounds.
The prosecutor said that in his confession to investigators, Reid told officers he regretted his crime, admitting it was “stupid” and done in “anger.”
The widow Pang spoke to local news cameras after the court hearing. In a soft voice she praised her husband as a good, hardworking man. Watanabe mentioned that Pang met her future husband in China.
At the arraignment on Wednesday, October 24, the defendant was declared a danger to the community and a flight risk, and judge James E. Simmons Jr. ordered him held without bail.
Comments
Once he gets a defense attorney on the case, the confession will be challenged as in-admissible. And that might just stick. But it appears as if there's more evidence of his involvement, notably the soda can, than just his confession.
So wouldn't the investigators have read him his rights before taking the confession?
Oh, the cops did that for sure, and have it video-recorded. That is standard procedure nowadays. But that doesn't mean that the defense cannot challenge it on any number of grounds. Defense attorneys get such self-incriminating evidence tossed on a daily basis. That is just part of the game that they play.
This small, sweet-faced young man could pass for thirteen years old. It is scary to consider that he is accused of committing a vicious murder-robbery.
Carey Reid Jr. now 21. Photo by Eva Knott.
Honorable judge James E. Simmons was not influenced by the defendant's youthful, innocent appearance. Judge ordered Carey Reid Jr held without bail.
Judge Simmons.
Just another innocent black man going to prison. He will make Bubba a nice wife.
Trial is set to begin tomorrow, June 14, in the superior courthouse in Vista, California. The defendant is no longer facing the death penalty, but he could get Life in Prison without parole if he is convicted of all charges. Carey Lamont Reid Jr., now 24, has been in custody since he was found in a parking lot behind the home where the deceased man was found, in October of 2018.
The widow and prosecutor spoke to news cameras the first day Reid was brought into court. Photo Eva Knott.
A jury of 5 men and 7 women was seated this morning, before Hon. judge Robert Kearney in San Diego’s North County Superior courthouse in Vista, California. The trial is expected to last less than 2 weeks. Defendant Carey Lamont Reid Jr. still has a sweet, baby face but he is looking larger and bulkier since his arrest almost four years ago. He does not appear so thin and small, not as childlike as when he first appeared in court.
Honorable judge Robert Kearney is hearing this jury trial, and he agreed with defense to suppress the prior criminal record of the defendant, from another State. Local cops were able to find this suspect because Reid allegedly left DNA at the scene, and when that DNA was inserted into a nationwide database, they got a match. Prosecution will continue their case against Reid next week, and then defense is expected to start their case on Wednesday.
Hon. judge Kearney. Photo Bob Weatherston.
The jury began as 5 men and 7 women, then 3 alternates were used, and now the jury is 4 men and 8 women. They were seated June 22, and got the case to deliberate late on July 11. The jury is asked to come to unanimous verdicts on two counts: 1. First degree Murder, with one Special Circumstance, killing during a burglary. 2. First degree Burglary, with two allegations: of a residence, while occupied. The jury is expected to continue deliberating today, Monday, July 18, 2022.
On July 18, 2022, a mistrial was declared for this case. The final vote counts were 6 - 6 guilty of murder, and 10 - 2 guilty of burglary. Some jurors reportedly believed that the defendant, Carey Lamont Reid, might have burglarized the home (and left his DNA on the victim, and stole the victim’s cell phone and travelled around the area with the stolen phone) AFTER SOMEONE ELSE stabbed the elderly man to death. The next hearing for this case is set for the morning of July 27, before the same judge who heard trial, to decide the next legal actions for this case.
Plea deal.
Reid mugshot, when he was arrested in another state.
Reid from his Facebook page Jan 2014.
After consulting with widow Zui Pang and the adult children of victim John Roth, prosecutor Keith Watanabe signed a plea deal this morning, with defendant Carey Reid. Reid, who will turn 25 next month, pleaded guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter, and expects a sentence of 12 years state prison and then 4 years parole. “This is a good result because he admitted to killing John Roth. He pled guilty to a violent and serious felony,” prosecutor Watanabe said in a statement released this morning, August 4, 2022. The prosecutor made a point to thank Oceanside PD and the Sheriff’s department for their “tireless” work on the case. Family and loved ones are expected to speak at Reid’s sentencing on September 9, in Dept 20 of San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse in Vista, California.