Court date reshuffled for pair accused of 2016 Vallejo pawnshop robbery

Amonie A. A. Summerise, 26, and Kashius Brazeal-Nelson, 23, ordered to return Jan. 29 to Department 2 in Vallejo to set a preliminary hearing date in the Justice Building in Vallejo

A preliminar y hearing date remains pending for two men accused in a deadly 2016 Vallejo pawnshop robbery that ended in the store owner’s gunshot slaying, the wounding of an employee and the death of the store’s dog.

A Solano County Superior Court judge on Friday again reshuffled proceedings for Amonie Azoun A ndre Summer ise, 26, of Vallejo, and Kashius Brazeal-Nelson, 23, a state prison inmate formerly of Vallejo, who appeared for a readiness conference and the setting of the hearing date in Department 2 in Vallejo, but Judge Daniel Healy rescheduled the matters for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 29 in the Justice Building.

The case against a suspected third person originally charged, Elijah Elliott Summerise, 23, brother of Amonie, was dismissed Sept. 11, 2019, court records indicate.

Brazeal-Nelson and the elder Summerise remain in Solano County Jail without bail.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn leads the prosecution of the case, which falls under the special circumstances category because the killing was committed during a robbery, a crime caught on video surveillance. The two defendants face the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole, if convicted at trial. At a previous hearing, Charm was unsure if he would pursue the death penalty.

A f ter proceedings in October last year, the defense lawyers for the elder Summerise, Robert Boyle and Sean Swartz, deputy alternate public defenders, confirmed that “the death penalty is still on the table.” Because the charges make it a potential death penalty case, they were assigned to represent Summerise.

In an email sent to The Reporter Friday afternoon, Swartz said he and Boyle were “still surprised” that the Solano County DA’s Office “continues to pursue a death penalty charge against a young black man who has not been alleged to have killed anyone.”

“However, we are optimistic that the District Attorney’s Office will recognize this situation as unwarranted and unfair, particularly when other District Attorneys throughout California are speaking out against the death penalty,” he added. “Unfortunately, at this time, our case still remains a death penalty case.”

Flynn did not return a Reporter request for comment at press time late Friday afternoon.

Vallejo criminal defense attorney Dustin M. Gordon represents Brazeal-Nelson, who has been transferred from Calipatria State Prison, where he is serving time for a prior felony conviction.

Summer ise wa s a rraigned earlier in Department 4 in Fairfield and pleaded not guilty to the charges and special allegations.

Despite Swartz’s claim about the status of the allegations against Amonie Summerise, court records ind ic at e that , besides first- degree murder and attempted murder, the two defendants face three counts of second- degree robbery and one count of unlawful firearm activity. The elder Summerise also is accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Additionally, Brazeal-Nelson is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from a prior conviction in Santa Clara County, and a charge of killing the store’s dog.

Vallejo police records indicate officers responded at about 3:10 p.m. Dec. 20, 2016, to reports of a possible robbery in progress at the Pawn Advantage Store, at 2581 Springs Road.

Store owner Timothy Pult, 49, of San Anselmo, and shop employee Josh Poole of Fairfax were found inside, both suffering from gunshot wounds. Pult’s dog, Copper, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, was found shot to death near the store entrance.

Police originally released surveillance video of the robbery in January 2017 in an effort to identify the suspects. In July, they released 24 seconds of footage that showed two men enter the shop, their faces covered, guns in their hands.

The publicly available footage doesn’t show the shootings, but it shows the suspects quickly leaving the store, with one of the them turning back and pointing his weapon at the dog before the video ends.

Pult was pronounced dead at the scene while Poole, who uses a wheelchair, was transported to a local trauma center. Poole, 45 at the time, survived but continues to receive medical treatment for his wounds, police said.

The Summerises were taken into custody in Vallejo on July 12, 2017. Brazeal- Nelson was arrested July 16 at the Imperial County state prison, where he is currently serving a sentence for a Yolo County robbery.

Boyle previously said the death penalty may still apply in the case, even though Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 issued an executive order suspending capital punishment in California.