An Oklahoma man accused of the shotgun killings of a woman and her 4-year-old daughter who were returning home from grocery shopping in Long Beach collapsed in a courtroom Monday soon after prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty against him.
Brandon Ivan Colbert Jr., 23, of Tulsa, is charged with killing Carina Mancera, 26, and her daughter, Jennabel Anaya. They were shot near Ninth Street and Locust Avenue about 10:20 p.m. Aug. 6. Police have not determined a motive.
The charges include the special circumstance allegations of murder while lying in wait and multiple murders. If convicted as charged, Colbert faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He is also accused of attempting to murder the child’s father, Luis Anaya, who escaped injury.
Colbert was in court for a hearing on his competency to stand trial when he fell to the floor and paramedics were called to take him to a hospital, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. There was no immediate word on his condition.
No decision on competency was made and a new hearing was set for May 30.
The defendant has pushed to act as his own attorney, but a lawyer hired by his family said Colbert “has a long history of mental illness.”
“It’s been well-reported, well-documented,” defense attorney Matthew Fletcher told reporters in January. “In his mind he believes that no one can represent him better than himself, because he believes he’s the one most interested in a good outcome. He’s just terribly wrong.”
Colbert testified that he believes the two victims are still alive and that he’s being set up by police, who he claimed staged the murders, the Press-Telegram reported.
Prosecutors allege that Colbert hid behind a sign and opened fire on the family with a shotgun. Surveillance footage captured at least part of the shooting, according to testimony during the preliminary hearing.
Police said he was booked in November in connection with the killings after DNA evidence linked him to the crime.
Colbert had been in custody since Aug. 27, when he was arrested by Los Angeles police on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle and a DNA swab was obtained from him.
Luis Anaya told investigators that a man walked up to his longtime girlfriend and their daughter and suddenly — without provocation — opened fire, then ran off. He said he did not recognize the man, nor did anyone else in the neighborhood.
The gunman also fired at Anaya, but missed, according to police.
— City News Service