In re D.T. CA4/2

BACKGROUND

On January 31, 2021, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Deven Talbert was washing his

car outside his residence when he saw a man, later identified as Gregory Garcia, carrying

cans and bottles in a black trash bag walk past him, heading east towards a vacant field

that abutted Talbert’s residence property. A short time later, Talbert heard chatter in the

field, in which someone with a youthful, prepubescent voice made repeated use of the

2 word “n--ga.”1 Talbert went to the opening in the fence and looked in the direction of the

voices and saw three people, one of whom was the man he had seen entering the field a

bit earlier. It appeared the three people were arguing.

Of the two people confronting Garcia, one was the minor D.T., age 14, who wore

an orange hoodie that covered his head, while the other, A.M., wore a sweatshirt with

writing on it. Talbert assumed they were both African-American because of the use of

the racial epithet. Talbert soon realized the two persons were robbing Garcia because the

person in the sweatshirt started going through Garcia’s pants and backpack while the one

in the hoodie stood by, holding a gun. A.M., who was the person in the…