Modesto businessman charged with murder testifies at his demo

The tattoo and overall body piercing shop owner who fatally shot a homeless male guiding his small business last yr testified throughout his trial this 7 days that he drew his gun in self-defense and pulled the result in for the reason that he was frightened for his life and experienced no other alternative.

“You could see it in his eyes I understood he meant company,” Jeremy Don Fennell said on the stand Tuesday. “I knew I was steady in telling him to keep back again. If he closed that gap he would get my gun, he could get rid of my wife, he could destroy my shoppers … That literally, in 38 many years of my lifetime, was the most concern I’ve at any time felt.”

Fennell also testified about disparaging comments he made about homeless men and women in the months and days primary up to the taking pictures, indicating they were being misconstrued or taken out of context.

Fennell shot 25-calendar year-outdated Lawrence Walker pursuing a short encounter at the rear of Fennell’s McHenry Avenue small business in March 2019.

The District Attorney’s Workplace billed him with with to start with diploma murder and enhancements for predetermination and utilizing a firearm.

Fennell claims it was self-defense.

His lawyer, Kirk McAllister, advised The Bee very last yr that if Fennell was a law enforcement officer alternatively of a businessman, he in no way would have been billed.

At the time of the shooting, Fennell experienced a permit to have a concealed gun.

He testified that he received the permit many many years in the past just after listening to then-Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson say on tv that the department did not have adequate means to secure the neighborhood. Christianson’s feedback arrived in the wake of the 2012 murders of a deputy and locksmith who had been shot even though conducting an eviction.

Fennell said the sheriff inspired small business house owners and many others who preferred to defend on their own to get a allow.

“That is the to start with time I at any time assumed I would require one at the fact the sheriff claimed we should implement,” Fennell testified.

The taking pictures at Sin Cal

On March 15, 2019, Fennell and his wife arrived at Sin Cal Industries, Fennell’s tattoo organization at 3117 McHenry Ave., to discover Walker and Jessica Estrada sitting down on the sidewalk driving the shop.

Fennell retrieved his gun from his glove compartment, hid it in a hooded sweatshirt and tucked it beneath his armpit.

Fennell testified that he was about to open the enterprise and there have been prospects waiting around in line at the entrance so he approached Walker and Estrada and questioned them if they’d been there extensive.

He explained in his encounters with homeless individuals in the past he’s located that is a respectful way to allow them know he’s opening for enterprise shortly and would like them to move alongside.

Fennell said Estrada responded that they experienced not been there prolonged so he questioned them to collect their belongings and depart.

That’s when Fennell said Walker told him, “I’m not afraid of your gun.”

Fennel testified he did not know how Walker knew he experienced a gun but assumed he might have seen him get it from the glove compartment or that the deal with was visible.

He testified that Walker and Estrada both yelled profanities at him and that Walker “popped up” from the ground.

“He arrived so rapidly and so tricky, so aggressive and total of rage that it shocked me at to start with that I stepped back and was like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Fennell said.

Fennell testified that he’d observed several metallic objects in Walker’s lap though he was sitting down and observed anything in his hand when he stood up. He stated he could not explain to what it was but believed it could be a butterfly knife.

Fennell testified that Walker repeated that he was not worried of his gun and Fennell frequently advised him to continue to be back again.

“As he ongoing to occur at me my issue was this person was likely to get my gun, that he was heading to use what is in his hand to kill me, or use this gun to get rid of me and then have my gun to use on whoever else was a witness,” he reported.

Fennell testified he moved his gun from less than the hoodie and into his appropriate hand. He regularly explained to walker to halt and prolonged both of those fingers out in entrance of him as a movement for him to halt.

“The complete time he’s advancing and pressing ahead even though screaming,” Fennell mentioned.

“At the point I tell him, ‘I do not want to shoot you, really don’t choose a different step’ … he appears to be like around towards my vehicle he seems again at me and he actions right out at me and carries on to attack,” Fennell mentioned on the witness stand, his voice cracking as he appeared to keep again tears.

He fired when Walker stepped off the sidewalk into the highway.

The shooting caught on camera

The incident was captured on surveillance digital camera but there was no audio.

The protection and prosecution have offered diverse descriptions of Walker’s closing stage Fennell testified that he lunged at him but Modesto Police Detective Joshua Grant in his arrest affidavit identified as it a facet stage to the left.

Grant, the guide detective on the case, testified that throughout his job interview with Fennell the defendant never utilized the phrase “lunge” to describe Walker’s innovations and never stated any butterfly knife or any weapons he considered Walker may possibly have experienced. Fennell also never claimed Walker threatened him verbally, Grant testified.

Estrada, Walker’s spouse, in her testimony and statements to police gave a unique edition of functions that painted Fennell as the aggressor.

Estrada testified during a preliminary listening to final yr that she could see the gun tucked less than Fennell’s arm as he approached.

Immediately after a transient dialogue Estrada mentioned she informed Fennell they have been leaving and did not want to start any difficulties. She testified that Fennell informed them “to hurry the f— up and get the f— out of there.”

She claimed Walker stood up and advised Fennell “Just because you have a gun does not mean you have the ideal to be a dick.”

She testified that Walker was about 5 feet away from Fennell when the business enterprise proprietor pulled out the gun and pointed it at her boyfriend. Estrada testified that Walker stopped relocating ahead.

Fennell instructed Walker “Don’t come any nearer, do not be silly,” according to Estrada. She said Walker told Fennell “Don’t just take the pu— way out, set the gun down and struggle me like a gentleman.”

She reported Walker wasn’t advancing on Fennell when Fennell shot him.

On the witness stand Tuesday Fennell was also requested about posts he manufactured on Instagram as well as remarks to police officers captured on overall body cameras concerning his emotions toward homeless persons.

Immediately after a single of several burglaries at his enterprise, Fennell advised an officer about a dialogue he was getting with a female at Costco exactly where he went to acquire a protection camera for his company.

The lady, speaking about methods to property homeless individuals, stated, “Why really do not we just build stadiums for homeless people?” And Fennell responded, “Put ‘em all in there and burn up it down.”

Fennell testified that he intended the homeless persons would likely burn it down, not that he desired them to melt away up in it.

Posts on Instagram

Six days just before the shooting, a submit of Fennell’s Instagram account encouraged men and women to halt giving homeless people today donations because the merchandise only stop up as trash in the back of businesses like his that “real people with actual lives” have to cleanse up.

The submit goes on to say that all the homeless want are “… again packs to steal s— and hoodies to conceal their pathetic horrible faces when they do those people crimes …. If we can not get rid of them all like we can other pests then we should not feed the wild drug addicts.”

Fennell testified the put up was misconstrued.

“My write-up was to say, ‘look guys there is this group of folks who are … hopeless and if we give our light to them — it is like heading down a dim path — If you shine your flashlight almost everywhere you’re not concentrating on what demands to be accomplished,” he testified. “We can do a large amount of great with everybody’s help and everybody’s exertion but it needs to be supplied to the appropriate way. Although they do want enable it is a different variety of assistance than just providing them our apparel and goods they could not want.”

Police in the beginning arrested Fennell on suspicion of murder quite a few hrs soon after the capturing. But prosecutors later on declined to file expenses towards Fennell, declaring they wished to carry out further more investigation. 5 months right after the taking pictures, prosecutors filed the murder charge.

He has remained in custody with a bail of $3 million ever considering the fact that.

The jury have to determine if Fennell committed murder, manslaughter or killed Walker in self defense or imperfect self defense.

Stanislaus Superior Court docket Choose Linda A. McFadden described the lawful definitions for all of them to the jury on Wednesday afternoon prior to closing arguments by McAllister and Chief Deputy District Lawyer Jeff Laugero.