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Thread: Ray Charles Brown Sentenced to LWOP in 2016 NV Death of Matthew Christensen

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    Ray Charles Brown Sentenced to LWOP in 2016 NV Death of Matthew Christensen


    Matthew Christensen





    DA Seeks Death Penalty In Lee’s Liquor Murder

    LAS VEGAS – District Attorney Steve Wolfson announced today that he intends to seek the death penalty against two of the defendants in the April 18th murder of Matthew Christensen, at a Lee’s Liquor in the southwest part of the valley.

    “Nevada law provides for the death penalty to be sought in certain circumstances. It is reserved for the worst of the worst,” said District Attorney Steve Wolfson. “The circumstances of this case make it clear that it is appropriate for us to seek the death penalty against Mr. Sykes and Mr. Brown.”

    Lee ‘Dominic’ Sykes, 20, and Ray Charles Brown, 24, are facing multiple charges, including: murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2016/06...liquor-murder/

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    Trial date set in September 2018 for suspects in Lee's Liquor robbery and murder case

    By Kyndell Nunley
    KSNV News3LV

    LAS VEGAS — The three local men accused of robbing a Lee's Liquor store and killing one of the store's clerks are going to trial.

    This murder trial was originally scheduled to start this past August, however, the last time the three defendants stood before a judge, some of their attorneys explained they‘re not ready to go to face a jury.

    The trial date was pushed back as a result and on Tuesday, a new date was set. Lee Murray Sykes, Lee Dominic Sykes, and Ray Charles Brown will go to trial in September 2018.

    Police say in April 2016, the three were caught on camera barging into the liquor store with guns and demanding money.

    The three reportedly got away with about $1,000.

    A clerk of the store, 24-year-old Matthew Christensen, was shot and killed during the robbery.

    The three did not speak out in court Tuesday as attorneys on all sides of the case ironed out the date they expect to be ready for trial.

    Early on in this case, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said prosecutors will go after the death penalty in the case.

    http://news3lv.com/news/local/trial-...nd-murder-case

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    Brothers sentenced in killing of Las Vegas liquor store clerk

    By Rio Lacanlale
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Two brothers were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2016 robbery, in which three men stormed into a Lee’s Discount Liquor store in southwest Las Vegas and gunned down a clerk when he could not open a safe.

    Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the death of 24-year-old Matthew Christensen, was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison.

    His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.

    The courtroom was packed on Wednesday with Christensen’s family members. His aunt, Pam Longanecker, spoke on behalf of the family.

    “Matthew did not deserve to die, to be murdered in cold blood,” she said. “For the last three years I have watched his family suffer with grief. I have tried to help my sister with her depression, but how do you console a mother who’s had her child ripped away from her?”

    Only the younger of the Sykes brothers addressed the courtroom, saying, “I apologize to all the families and parties involved. I would like to say thank you for a second chance at life.”

    Prosecutors had planned to seek a death sentence for the defendant before he accepted the plea agreement.

    Court records show that the brothers took plea deals in August. They initially faced charges of murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery, assault and coercion with a deadly weapon.

    The April 18, 2016, robbery at the 8785 Warm Springs Road store was caught on tape. Authorities have said that Christensen, about two weeks shy of his 25th birthday, was killed when the Sykes brothers and their childhood friend, Ray Charles Brown, demanded that he open a safe inside the store. The clerk did not have access to it, but his pregnant manager in another part of the store did.

    Christensen’s family has described him as a hero who spent his last moments with his lips sealed and his hands up, possibly saving his manager and her unborn baby.

    According to Longanecker, her nephew was working three jobs at the time of his death to purchase a new car. He was studying to become an architect and had planned to quit his job at the liquor store on his 25th birthday.

    “He was earning his way through life, unlike the defendants,” Longanecker said during her statement on Wednesday.

    The third defendant, Brown, who police believe was the shooter, is awaiting trial. He is charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    Las Vegas police have said that Brown and the Sykes brothers were childhood friends.

    Christensen, the middle child of three brothers, was “a hard-working, funny guy,” his older brother, Reggie, said outside the courtroom after the hearing. “He always took care of everybody around him.”

    The victim’s mother, Theresa, who had planned to give a statement during the hearing but was too choked up inside the courtroom to speak, said, “The day that Matthew passed away, I literally lost a part of my heart. Literally. It is so hard not talking to him every day, seeing him, seeing his smile, hearing his laughter.”

    And to the Sykes brothers and Brown, and to anyone else thinking about “leading a life of crime,” Theresa Christensen has a message: “Think about your actions and what you’re doing. It’s so not worth it, because we’re going through a lot of pain. But they’re not thinking about what they’re putting their family through, either.”

    Brown’s trial is set for Jan. 21, according to court records.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...UserState=true
    Last edited by Steven; 11-08-2019 at 09:08 AM.

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    Trial starts for man accused of killing Las Vegas liquor store clerk

    By David Ferrara
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Jury selection began Tuesday in the capital murder trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a Lee’s Discount Liquor clerk inside a southwest valley store.

    Matthew Christensen, 24, was killed when he could not open a safe in April 2016 during a robbery captured on surveillance video. Ray Charles “Ray Ray” Brown, 26, is accused of being the gunman.

    Brown faces charges of murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    If the jury convicts him of first-degree murder, the same panel would be tasked with deciding whether he should receive the death penalty.

    Two brothers were sentenced in November for their roles in the robbery and killing.

    Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison. He, too, had faced capital punishment before striking a deal with prosecutors.

    His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.

    Authorities have said that Christensen, about two weeks shy of his 25th birthday, was killed when the Sykes brothers and their childhood friend, Brown, demanded that he open a safe inside the store. The clerk did not have access to it, but his pregnant manager in another part of the store did.

    At the sentencing hearing for the Sykes brothers, Christensen’s family said he was working three jobs at the time of his death to purchase a new car. He was studying to become an architect and had planned to quit his job at the liquor store on his 25th birthday.

    Jury selection in Brown’s trial is expected to last several days.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...clerk-1940405/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Death penalty trial: Liquor store shopper testifies on robbery

    By David Ferrara
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Jocelyn Jones escaped a Las Vegas liquor store moments before a clerk was shot and killed in the back room.

    Gunmen burst into a southwest valley Lee’s Discount Liquor in April 2016 while Jones was on the phone with a friend and about to buy a bottle of wine, she told jurors Wednesday.

    “This is a robbery,” she heard them say. “This is a robbery.”

    A robber with his gray hoodie up and tied, wearing a white sock on his right hand, initially told her to stand at the register.

    “We need you to stay right here,” he told her.

    Within seconds the man prosecutors have identified as Ray Charles Brown rushed past her to the rear of the store toward Matthew Christensen, a 24-year-old clerk who prosecutors said suffered six gunshot wounds from Brown’s revolver.

    Before the bullets were fired, Jones saw a clear path toward the exit and slowly walked to the parking lot, passing a lookout.

    “I looked at him and said, ‘I’m leaving,’” she testified. “He said, ‘Just go.’”

    She said she didn’t run because she did not want to draw attention to herself.

    Outside, she screamed on the phone with her friend: “The store got robbed. The store got robbed.” Then she got in her car and rushed home. She noticed several squad cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring, headed toward the liquor store, and did not call police, thinking they already were on their way. It was not until after she saw news stories about the robbery that she learned police were looking for her. She was quickly ruled out as a suspect.

    Jones testified briefly during the death penalty trial for Brown, 26, who prosecutors said killed the clerk and fled with two accomplices who have since pleaded guilty and been sent to prison.

    The white sock, Jones did not know at the time, covered a tattoo, a key detail that helped authorities identify Brown as the killer, according to prosecutors.

    Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly told jurors during opening statements on Tuesday that Christensen was shot because he did not know the combination for the store’s safe.

    Defense attorneys have suggested that Brown was not the man in the video.

    Brown is charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    If the jury convicts him of first-degree murder, the same panel would be tasked with deciding whether he should receive capital punishment. Testimony, which continues Thursday, is expected to take up to two weeks.

    Two brothers already have been sentenced for their roles in the robbery and Christensen’s killing.

    Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison. He faced capital punishment before striking a deal with prosecutors.

    His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...bbery-1946245/

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    Man convicted of all counts in Las Vegas liquor store murder case

    By David Ferrara
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    A 26-year-old man was convicted of all counts Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a Las Vegas liquor store clerk during a robbery.

    The shooting of 24-year-old Matthew Christensen inside the back room of a southwest valley Lee’s Discount Liquor store was captured on surveillance video.

    Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani showed jurors in closing arguments screen shots from the video with, he said, Ray Charles Brown’s “face clearly depicted, killing a man in cold blood. The evidence is uncontroverted and overwhelming.”

    In that video, prosecutors said, Brown was seen wearing a white sock over his right hand, covering tattoos, including a red “4.”

    Brown was charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, burglary while in possession of a firearm, coercion with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    The same panel that convicted Brown also must decide whether he should receive the death penalty or a term in prison.

    Last week, jurors watched the surveillance video of the April 2016 robbery and killing and heard a 911 call from Christensen’s then-pregnant co-worker.

    Prosecutors said Brown fired multiple shots that struck Christensen, a part-time employee, who had directed his killer away from his co-workers and to the back of the southwest valley store.

    Defense attorneys have argued that Brown was not the man in the video who fired six shots into Christensen after he stood with his hands up, telling robbers he could not open the store’s safe.

    During closing arguments, defense attorney Josh Tomsheck tried to convince jurors that prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown was the gunman.

    Tomsheck pointed to what he called an “overwhelming lack of evidence” — including no DNA, footprints or fingerprints — and argued that another man was responsible for the killing.

    “Ray doesn’t have any proceeds from the robbery, because Ray isn’t the guy in the video,” Tomsheck said. “What if they’re wrong about who is responsible for this crime?”

    The second gunman, Lee Dominic Sykes, fired a warning shot before bullets from Brown’s revolver killed Christensen, prosecutors said.

    Sykes, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison. He, too, had faced capital punishment before striking a deal with prosecutors.

    His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...-case-1951328/

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    Jury spares life of man who fatally shot liquor store clerk

    By David Ferrara
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    A Las Vegas man must spend the rest of his life in prison for fatally shooting a 24-year-old liquor store clerk during a robbery, jurors decided Friday.

    The jury could have sentenced Ray Charles Brown, 26, to death for killing the clerk, Matthew Christensen, in April 2016. Instead, the panel imposed a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

    Jurors decided that several mitigating factors for Brown, including their finding that “humanity failed him,” outweighed aggravating circumstances that could have resulted in capital punishment.

    Christensen’s relatives, seated behind prosecutors in the courtroom gallery, embraced each other and cried as the verdict was read. Brown lowered his head.

    Brown was convicted earlier this week of nine counts, including first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, assault and conspiracy in connection with the killing inside the back room of a Lee’s Discount Liquor. He faces additional sentences for the remaining charges at an April hearing.

    Before his sentence was handed down, Brown asked for leniency.

    “I would like to apologize to the Christensens,” Brown said, reading from a paper, his hands shaking and his voice cracking. “I’m sorry. Hopefully one day y’all can find forgiveness in your heart. Today I am asking for y’all mercy and to give me another chance.”

    ‘Please forgive me’

    He also directed comments to his relatives seated behind him in the courtroom gallery.

    “I’m sorry,” he said. “This is painful. It hurts. We shouldn’t have to go through this. The Christensens shouldn’t have to go through this, either. Please forgive me, and give me another chance.”

    After Friday’s verdict, Brown’s family also wept, with one woman repeatedly saying “thank you, Jesus.”

    Christensen was shot six times, after he handed over his wallet and cellphone and threw his hands in the air. Prosecutors said he had lured the robbers away from his pregnant coworker, and he was shot after he told Brown he could not open the store’s safe.

    Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly asked jurors to consider “the totality of a loss like that.”

    “Life doesn’t prepare you for that type of loss,” the prosecutor said.

    Fellow prosecutor John Giordani pointed to the criminal past of Brown, a documented gang member with charges that dated back to 2005, when he was a juvenile, including drug possession, petty larceny, battery and coercion.

    In an effort to spare his life, defense attorneys painted a picture of a young Brown who was bullied in school and grew up without his father, while his mother was sent to prison on a drug charge when he was about 5. Family members said Brown is now a father to two young children.

    “Placing a needle in Ray’s arm can’t take the bullets out of Matthew,” Brown’s lawyer, Josh Tomsheck said. “My question then is: When Ray breathes his last breath as a result of a death verdict, when his breathing stops, do the tears that were shed in this courtroom stop? Or is there just more? And does the cycle of pain just start all over again?”

    When Brown was in grade school, his mother drank and used drugs with him, before she went to prison, the attorney told jurors, and Brown had no father figure or male role model in his life.

    ‘Value in everybody’

    Tomsheck asked jurors to choose life.

    “I would ask that you find the goodness in each one of you to give Ray the opportunity to find the goodness in him,” the attorney said.

    At trial last week prosecutors played the surveillance video of the robbery and killing and heard a 911 call from Christensen’s then-pregnant coworker.

    The video showed Brown fire multiple shots that struck Christensen, a part-time employee, who had directed his killer away from his coworkers and to the back of the southwest valley store.

    Another armed robber, Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison.

    His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.

    In Brown’s case, jurors found that abandonment by his father, neglect from his mother, a lack of stability as a child, and his upbringing in a violent neighborhood were among the mitigating factors that outweighed aggravating circumstances.

    In closing arguments, Tomsheck told jurors that Brown has tried to better himself since his arrest in Christensen’s murder.

    “There’s value in everybody, good and bad,” Tomsheck told the Las Vegas Review-Journal outside the courtroom. “And I think the verdict shows that the jury listened to his ability to be reformed, and to be a contributing member of society, even if he’s locked up.”

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...clerk-1953088/

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