Pasadena restaurant murder trial nears end

PASADENA -- The jury saw the final day of witness testimony Wednesday in the murder trial of a gang member accused of shooting a Lancaster man to death last year inside a Pasadena restaurant.
Dwayne Rice, 27, is charged with murder in the May 29 shooting death of 32-year-old David Crosby of Lancaster at the Atlantis night club and restaurant.
Crosby's Mother, Dorothea Cook, said she was eager to see the trail come to and end.
"I hope it will be wrapped up soon," she said. "I just pray day and night for justice. I'm not mad at anybody. I just want justice."
Closing arguments will be heard in Pasadena Superior Court Thursday, before the jury gets the case for deliberation.
Under questioning from prosecutor Paul Kim, Pasadena police Detective Keith Gomez testified Wednesday that several witnesses reported seeing Rice shoot Crosby.
"Three people that night identified (Rice) as the shooter," he said.
Charles Wetstone, a former co-defendant in the murder case, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon last month and agreed to testify against Rice. Wetstone is expected to be sentenced to nine years in prison later this month.
Wetstone's Myspace.com Web page was riddled with gang references, Gomez said, and appeared to be "idolizing" or "honoring" Rice. Based on documented encounters with police, Gomez testified that Rice had been hanging out with documented, active Bloods gang members for years.
Wetstone testified last week that he and Rice acted on orders from gang leaders to tell Crosby and another man to leave the restaurant because they belonged to a rival Bloods gang, the Squiggly Lane Gangsters.
Defense Attorney Christopher Chaney tried to cast doubt on the prosecution's case. He has said he doesn't think Wetstone is a credible witness, and that
Defense witness Princess Patterson testified that she lived in Pasadena at the time of the Atlantis shooting, and that Rice was at her house shortly after the incident.
Patterson testified that people began calling her about 7:30 p.m. on May 29 to tell her about the 6:40 p.m. shooting, and that Rice was already there with her.
"He had been sitting there for quite a while," she said. "Maybe an hour."
Patterson added that Rice was not acting unusual when he was with her at her home.
Chaney pointed out that one witness said she was able to pick out Wetstone's photograph as a suspect in the incident, but could not identify Rice as the shooter.
Crosby was killed as he gathered with dozens of friends and family members at the restaurant following a funeral for his cousin, Darryl Stephens, who police said died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an Upland apartment on May 17 of last year.
Rice's brother testified last year that Rice and Stephens did not get along and had been arguing over a woman before Stephens died.
Crosby's mother said she remains shocked by the slaying of her son, and his family, including his two children, are struggling with the loss daily.
"He was a good man," she said. "He had a passion for people. He didn't deserve to die this way."
"You kill another man while he's mourning for his cousin -- that's cold-blooded," she added.