[HPN] Youth found guilty of beating homeless man to death in Chico, CA, USA FWD USA FWD

[Tom Boland]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2000/02/10/state1037ES
T0270.DTL&type=printable
FWD  Associated Press - Thursday, February 10, 2000 - 07:37 PST

JURY RETURNS GUILTY VERDICT IN BEATING DEATH

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- A 20-year-old former Butte College football player
has been found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of a homeless
man in Chico.

Trevor Bird faces a possible sentence of life in prison when he is
sentenced March 13.

A fellow player on the team, Dereck Phillips, also 20, pleaded no contest
to a reduced charge of second-degree murder. He faces a possible
15-years-to-life sentence.

Deputy District Attorney Leonard Goldkind said Wednesday the case
demonstrated ``how one night of drinking can ruin two young men's lives and
end another man's life.''

Bird was convicted of helping Phillips bludgeon Lloyd Lee Brown, 47, in a
Chico alley moments after a verbal confrontation when one of the young men
urinated near where the homeless man was trying to sleep on the night of
Nov. 5, 1998.

Bird's attorney, Dennis Latimer, conceded that Bird was responsible with
Phillips for Brown's death, though disagreed with the prosecutor that it
was a case of deliberate, premeditated first-degree murder. He said the
plans to appeal the conviction.

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