LAKEPORT, Calif. – A young woman who was shot and seriously wounded in a June 2011 attack that claimed the life of her 4-year-old son took the stand on Thursday in the trial of the two men accused of the crime.
Desiree Kirby testified for a few hours in the trial of Paul William Braden, 22, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, who on June 18, 2011, are alleged to have shot into a crowd at the Lakeshore Drive home in Clearlake that Kirby and boyfriend Ross Sparks shared along with her 4-year-old son, Skyler Rapp, and the couple’s baby daughter.
Braden and Lopez are facing 15 counts including murder for the death of the child, who was shot and died at the scene, and numerous attempted murder, mayhem and other charges for injuring Kirby, Sparks, Andrew Sparks, Joey Armijo and Ian Griffith.
Braden is represented by attorney Doug Rhoades, and Lopez by attorney Stephen Carter.
Kirby described the events of the evening, and under questioning by District Attorney Don Anderson she described her own serious wounds, which have left her with permanent injuries to her right arm and right leg.
She was struck by a barrage of shotgun fire that has led to multiple surgeries, and left her with still more pellets yet to be removed from her arm, leg and knee cap. She said she was supposed to have surgery a week ago on her reconstructed arm, where a metal rod is about to push out.
Her arm, right hand and lower leg have suffered permanent nerve damage, and she no longer has a full range of motion with her right arm.
She said she can no longer take care of herself or her young daughter.
“It just ruined my whole life,” Kirby said.
Although only in her early 20s, Kirby’s injuries have left her with an arthritic knee and difficulty walking.
Recalling muzzle flashes
Andrew Sparks followed Kirby to the stand on Thursday afternoon.
He said he had known both Lopez and Braden from school, and had never had problems with them until the June 2011 shooting.
On the day of the shooting, Sparks said he had been home most of the day, and about 5 p.m. was called by his brother, Ross Sparks, and asked to come to the Lakeshore Drive residence.
“He just asked me to come over because he had some problems with some guys,” said Andrew Sparks, explaining that he got to his brother’s home about 6 p.m.
He recalled about 12 people were at the home at various points. During the afternoon, he said his brother was on the phone on and off.
“I could hear him yelling and arguing with someone but I really wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying,” Sparks said.
His aunt, Crystal Pearls, also was on the phone arguing with someone at one point, Sparks said.
Sparks said he hung out, had four to five beers and some shots of Jack Daniels. “I was probably a little intoxicated.”
Later that night, Skyler was roasting marshmallows and Sparks was talking to Kirby near the barbecue when he heard the first shot.
When Anderson asked how many shots he heard, Sparks responded, “I couldn’t even tell you. It sounded like a lot.”
The shots were coming from the fence separating Sparks’ and Kirby’s residence from that of neighbor Curtis Eeds, Andrew Sparks said.
Sparks said he saw a man sitting on the top of the fence – or, as he described later, standing on a washing machine in Eeds’ backyard – and saw muzzle flashes through a notch in the top of the fence.
“I could tell that he had no hair,” he said of the first shooter.
He also saw muzzle flashes coming from an area of the fence where a board was missing.
Sparks ran and hid behind a vehicle parked in the yard until the shooting stopped. He said he then tried to pick up Skyler.
“He wasn’t breathing. He was pretty much gone already,” Sparks said.
He said he left the child where he fell. “His mom told me to leave him alone.”
Sparks said he went to the home, where several people were piled on top of each other in the doorway. His brother was helping Kirby.
“She had blood all over her. She was screaming for help,” he said.
Armijo was on the floor as well. “He was pretty messed up, too,” said Sparks, recalling seeing wounds on Armijo’s arm.
Sparks himself also was shot. “I knew I got shot but I didn’t know how many times or where,” he said.
In all, he said he suffered 12 wounds to his leg and five to his arm. Anderson asked him to show his scars to the juries, which he did.
Rhoades asked Sparks about his statement that he could see a person shooting who had a bald head, which Rhoades pointed out differed from Sparks’ statements in the case’s preliminary hearing last fall, when he said the person had short hair.
Sparks, who has very short hair, said the person’s hair was about the length of his. He said he couldn’t tell much about the second shooter.
The trial will reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 4.
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