Jury begins deliberations in murder trial for stabbing at 1992 warehouse party

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A jury began deliberating this afternoon in a man's murder trial for a 1992 fatal stabbing at a warehouse party here.

The jury, which includes nine women and three men, began deliberating at about 3:30 after hearing closing arguments in West Valley Superior Court from attorneys in the case.

Both attorneys agreed that two strangers -- Freddy Najarro and Dennis Smalling -- began fighting after Najarro objected to Smalling leering at his girlfriend at a May 15, 1992 party illegally staged in a vacant warehouse at 12027 Arrow Route.

During the fight, Najarro stabbed Smalling several times. The 19-year-old Riverside man died from his wounds.

Najarro's defense attorney, Gary Wynings, told jurors that Najarro, a Pomona native, was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Smalling, who was about four inches taller than Najarro.

Deputy District Attorney John Patrick Thomas argued that Najarro, 36, instigated the fight, and planned to stab Smalling before the first punch was thrown.

Jurors have the option of acquitting Najarro, or convicting him of one of four charges: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.

The jury was scheduled to deliberate today until 4:30 p.m., and resume deliberations Tuesday morning.

Wynings told jurors that Najarro should be convicted of no more than voluntary manslaughter.

The attorney said Najarro, who was 18 at the time of the fight, was overmatched by Smalling, an experienced fighter who often got into minor scrapes at parties, according to testimony from his friends, Wynings said.

"(Najarro) was getting punched repeatedly, pushed back 15 feet into a speaker system," Wynings said.

Thomas told jurors that Najarro's actions before and after the fight indicate his guilt.

Witnesses said Najarro yelled a racial slur at Smalling, who is black. And after the stabbing, Najarro's girlfriend said she watched him burn his clothes in a fireplace to, in his words, destroy evidence.

"This is a fistfight that the defendant turned into a knife fight right away, before it even started," Thomas said.

Najarro likely assumed Smalling was unarmed, Thomas said, because before entering the party Smalling would have been searched for weapons. Because Najarro was friends with the organizers, he wasn't searched, Thomas said.

Najarro was arrested last year after investigators received an anonymous tip identifying Najarro as Smalling's killer.

Drew Young, Smalling's cousin, was in court during the closing arguments. He said afterward that he feels Najarro should be convicted of murder.

He called his cousin's killing a "classic case of a punk ... that couldn't fight and stabbed somebody."