A trial date was set Wednesday for an 18-year-old Compton man and former Lakewood High School football star arrested last year for attempted murder in connection with a gang drive-by in Compton.
Jerry Stone and his co-defendant Lawrence Blake, 31, are both charged with two counts of attempted murder -- one count for each alleged victim -- and two counts of using an assault rifle in a Aug. 21, 2009, attack that allegedly targeted gang rivals.
The drive-by was part of a summer-long war between rival gang factions in Compton and one of more than half a dozen shootings tied to that war. The shootings erupted after a party where members of Stone's and Blake's gang were told they had to pay a $25 entry fee, something they took as a sign of "disrespect," according to gang investigators who testified in Stone's and Blake's preliminary hearing last December.
A June 8 trial date was set for the pair at the Compton Superior Court Wednesday morning.
Stone has remained in jail in lieu of $3 million bail since his arrest last year. Blake's bail was set at $2.9 million.
Though Stone was 17 at the time of the attack and his arrest he was charged as an adult. If he and Blake are convicted on all counts they both face the possibility of life in state prison.
Stone's schoolmates at Lakewood High School were stunned at the news of his arrest last year. According to team members and his coach, the gifted athlete was virtually guaranteed a college scholarship and likely had a promising career in the NFL ahead of him.
Jerry Stone and his co-defendant Lawrence Blake, 31, are both charged with two counts of attempted murder -- one count for each alleged victim -- and two counts of using an assault rifle in a Aug. 21, 2009, attack that allegedly targeted gang rivals.
The drive-by was part of a summer-long war between rival gang factions in Compton and one of more than half a dozen shootings tied to that war. The shootings erupted after a party where members of Stone's and Blake's gang were told they had to pay a $25 entry fee, something they took as a sign of "disrespect," according to gang investigators who testified in Stone's and Blake's preliminary hearing last December.
A June 8 trial date was set for the pair at the Compton Superior Court Wednesday morning.
Stone has remained in jail in lieu of $3 million bail since his arrest last year. Blake's bail was set at $2.9 million.
Though Stone was 17 at the time of the attack and his arrest he was charged as an adult. If he and Blake are convicted on all counts they both face the possibility of life in state prison.
Stone's schoolmates at Lakewood High School were stunned at the news of his arrest last year. According to team members and his coach, the gifted athlete was virtually guaranteed a college scholarship and likely had a promising career in the NFL ahead of him.
I'm excited to be finally posting online after all these years. There really is no mystique (sp) about it, is there? I just dropped by your blog and had to write something. I'm a recent college grad, journalism major if you must know, and I love photography. I've got my site up but it's nothing to brag about yet. None of my stuff's been posted. Soon as I figure out how to do that, I'll spend the day posting my best pictures. anyways just thought I'd drop a line. I hope to return with more substantial stuff, stuff you can actually use. SPG