Community Corner

DA: Lemon Grove Shooting Death 'A Drug Robbery Gone Bad'

2 teens face first-degree murder charges in the killing of Avel Michael Edgar.

The fatal gunshot to the head of a Lemon Grove man was the result of “a drug robbery gone bad,” according to the District Attorney’s office. Eugene Lucious Veal, 18, is accused of being the shooter.

Veal, of San Diego, entered a plea of not guilty to one count of first-degree murder, as well as felony burglary and drug charges, during arraignment Monday in El Cajon Superior Court. He is in the March 14 shooting death of Avel Michael Edgar, 23.

According to prosecutors, Veal and Alfredo Hayes, 19, went to the victim’s home on the 8200 block Mt. Vernon Street the night of March 14 to buy a large amount of marijuana from Edgar. Hayes showed a handgun during the transaction, and Edgar put the marijuana in a safe. It was then, said the deputy district attorney, that Veal began to pistol whip the victim, and the gun discharged.

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Bail was set at $1 million. Several members of Veal’s family attending the arraignment gasped when Judge Charles W. Ervin set the amount.

Hayes, also charged with first-degree murder, as well as felony robbery, burglary, firearms and drug charges, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in the El Cajon Court. He is currently being held without bail.

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Sheriff’s deputies responding to  about 9:45 p.m. March 14 found Edgar wounded in the residence. Paramedics were called to the scene, and Edgar was pronounced dead at 10:10 p.m., according to the Medical Examiner’s office, which later determined the cause of death to be

Veal is due back in court April 13 for a readiness hearing, and April 16 for a preliminary hearing.


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