A jury was seated Wednesday for the murder trial of a man accused of gunning down a fellow Blythe resident for being disrespectful to his sister.
Timothy James Mays, 26, is accused in the April 4, 2014, shooting death of Douglas Miker, 24, who was last seen departing the Horny Toad Saloon in Blythe with Mays and Mays’ sister about 2 a.m., according to the prosecution’s trial brief.
Miker was found by passersby about four hours later, face-down with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, on the side of the road near 10th Avenue and Arrowhead Boulevard. He was taken to Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe, then later airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was pronounced dead on April 8.
Prosecutors believe the trio left the bar in Mays’ sister’s car, with the defendant driving, and that during the car ride, Mays pulled over to the side of the road so Miker could relieve himself. Once Miker was outside of the car, Mays allegedly shot Miker and later told a friend that he did so because the victim “was being rude and disrespectful to his sister,” according to the prosecution.
Deputies found two pairs of shoe prints near where Miker was found, one set matching Miker’s shoes and the other allegedly matching shoes Mays owned, the brief states.
Mays was arrested on April 13, hiding in a storage shed behind a home in the 17800 block of Pallowalla Road, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Opening statements in Mays’ trial are set to be delivered Thursday afternoon.