Murder trial put on hold during appeal
Attorneys on case debate possible charges
The trial scheduled next week for a woman charged in a January 2017 crash that left a mother and daughter dead has been delayed as attorneys wrangle over what exact murder charge she should face.
Earlier this month, State District Judge Brett Loveless dismissed the firstdegree felony murder charge against Elexus Groves, who was charged after police say she and Paul Garcia stole a van, fled a police traffic stop and slammed into Shaunna Arredondo-Boling’s vehicle, killing her and her 14-year-old daughter, Shaylee Boling.
The first-degree felony murder charge is generally used in cases in which a person is killed during the commission of other felony crimes.
But Groves’ attorney argued successfully the charge should be dismissed and, basically, substituted with a lesser, second-degree murder charge.
The Supreme Court has held that felonies that can be used as a basis for
felony murder are limited to those that “require a felonious purpose independent from the purpose of endangering the physical health of the victim.”
According to her indictment, Groves was accused of killing Boling and Arredondo “during the commission or attempted commission of aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer.”
But in a Feb. 20 motion, her attorney Brittany Malott claimed that aggravated fleeing was not one of the crimes that could be used to charge felony murder because it “already requires a purpose of endangering the life of another.”
The state has appealed this dismissal decision, and Loveless on Friday agreed to delay the trial while the appeal is heard.
Since Garcia’s case is associated with Groves’, the appeal process also will apply to the first-degree felony murder charge he faces.
The defendants’ attorneys Friday also said they plan to seek the release of the two from jail while the appeal proceeds.