‘Murderer had to be the toughest guy in the room’

“The defendant executed the victim,” Jangla said.

Jones went to 566 Ralston Ave. near the Belmont post office to get his TV and other items at the one-bedroom apartment of his former girlfriend — and where Stewart was among guests Aug. 5, 2017, the prosecutor said.

Jones walked by Stewart and paid him no attention — which angered the defendant, who had lived in Oakland, the deputy D.A. said. In a later call from jail, Stewart said normally someone would back down, Jangla told jurors.

“This would never happen in Oakland,” Steward said in the conversation, Jangla recounted.

But Jones didn’t submit, the prosecutor said.

“It cost him his life,” Jangla said.

The prosecutor told jurors that Jones showing up invited at the apartment was reason in Stewart’s mind to shoot the unarmed man after the two struggled.

“The defendant brought a loaded firearm to a fist fight,”

Defense attorney Connie O’Brien, during her closing argument, said an argument over Jones’ 5 a.m. arrival at the apartment escalated into a fight and a struggle over Stewart’s gun.

Jones was shot as he charged outside toward his car where Stewart likely thought Jones had a firearm, O’Brien said.

A witness said that after Stewart spoke of having a gun, Jones responded, “I have a fat hammer, too,” O’Brien said.

Referring to the prosecution argument that the fatal shooting was to enforce a rule of the street about respect, the defense attorney said: “That — I want to say is preposterous — but certainly not well founded.”

“What matters most in this case is what actually happened in that apartment,” O’Brien told jurors.

The people sleeping there were awakened by pounding on the door that sounded like police demanding entry but actually preceded Jones and two family members entering, O’Brien said.

Jones went inside to terrorize and punish his former girlfriend but encountered an apartment full of people, one of whom had a gun, the attorney said.

The slain man had a blood alcohol level of .17 — twice the legal limit for drunken driving — and cocaine in his system, O’Brien said.

Prosecutor Jangla said the defendant, while in jail after his arrest, sought to intimidate a witness and told her “I got my ears to the streets.”

Stewart told the woman to keep her mouth closed and that anyone coming to court best believe they’re getting whacked too, Jangla said.

The prosecutor called for justice for the murdered Dejohn Jones.

“The code of the streets will not stand,” Jangla told jurors.

O’Brien countered that the prosecution was citing only eight of 41 jail calls between Stewart and the woman — exchanges the defense attorney said took place about seven months before the preliminary hearing in the case.

Jury deliberations will begin Wednesday in the case.

ryan@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106