
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Thirteen months after his conviction and with his motion for a new trial denied, a Clearlake man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing one man and wounding two other people in a September 2013 shooting.
On Monday, Judge Andrew Blum sentenced Joshua Robert Beavers, 29, to a prison term that includes two life sentences plus nearly a century more for the murder of David Ferrell and shooting and wounding Paul Cressy and Rachel Patterson, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Beavers’ trial began at the start of June 2017. A month later, at the trial’s conclusion, the jury deliberated for four and a half hours before convicting Beavers of second-degree murder for the point-blank shooting of Ferrell, a 29-year-old husband and father of four, in front of Ferrell’s home on Sept. 8, 2013.
The jury also convicted Beavers of the attempted murder of Cressy and Patterson; assault with a firearm on Ferrell, Patterson and Cressy; discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner; unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person or in a vehicle; unlawfully possessing a short-barreled shotgun; and numerous special allegations attached to the main charges including firearm use and inflicting great bodily injury, as Lake County News has reported.
Hinchcliff said Beavers was sentenced to 15 years to life for Ferrell’s murder plus a 25-years-to-life enhancement for use of a gun causing great bodily injury; a life term for the attempted murder with premeditation for the shooting of Cressy, along with 25 years to life for use of a gun causing great bodily injury; a life term for the attempted murder with premeditation for the shooting of Patterson plus 20 years for use of a gun not causing great bodily injury; and three additional years for possession of a sawed-off shotgun.
All terms total about 102 years to life, Hinchcliff said, while defense attorney Andrea Sullivan calculated the basic prison time at 88 years.
At the heart of the shootings was escalating animosity between Beavers and his one-time friend Cameron Fallis, whose parents became close friends with Beavers.
Beavers accused Fallis of failing to perform his duties as a growing in a marijuana operation.
On the morning of the shooting, Beavers – accompanied by Fallis’ mother, Angel Esquivel, and her husband, Orlando Esquivel Sr. – confronted and assaulted Fallis near Ray’s Food Place in Clearlake.
What followed was a series of phone calls between Beavers, Fallis and Ferrell. Afterward, according to trial testimony, Beavers went to the Esquivels’ home where he retrieved a .22-caliber Ruger handgun that he put in his waistband and a sawed-off shotgun that he gave to his friend, David Cunningham, who testified at trial.
Beavers, Cunningham and another man, Brenden Alicea, along with the Esquivels then went to Ferrell’s home. Ferrell had told Beavers and Fallis that he wanted them to deal with their issues one on one.
However, following a brief discussion in front of Ferrell’s home at 19th and Gardner, Fallis testified that Beavers pulled out the handgun and shot Ferrell once in the face. At trial, a medical examiner said Ferrell died almost instantly.
Ed Savin and Sullivan represented Beavers in the case.
The prosecution maintained Ferrell was unarmed, while the defense argued he had a weight bar in his hand.
“Several percipient witnesses to the shootings that led to the prosecution initially stated David Ferrell had a barbell-type weapon in his hands before the shooting,” Sullivan told Lake County News. “However at jury trial those witnesses changed their statements to either there was no weapon in Mr. Ferrell’s hands Or they could not remember if there was a weapon in Mr. Ferrell’s hands. This change in statements significantly damaged Mr. Beavers’ defense.”
Once he had shot Ferrell, Beavers ran back to the Esquivels’ van, continuing to shoot as he fled. Cressy was hit in the elbow by a bullet while Patterson had a minor wound to her side, according to testimony.
Hinchcliff said it took a year for the defense to investigate the case further and file a motion for a new trial.
That motion was heard two weeks ago and denied, Hinchcliff said.
Before sentencing on Monday, Sullivan said Hinchcliff argued that Beavers participated in gang activity and the shooting of Ferrell was an intentional and willful act. Savin argued that the shooting of Ferrell was a split-second reaction and not intentional.
“It was also pointed out that nowhere in the charges was Mr. Beavers alleged to have participated in gang activity during the incident that led to his arrest in this case,” Sullivan said.
Because of a change in law, use of a firearm enhancements may be eliminated by a judge at sentencing, Sullivan said.
While Judge Blum chose to impose use of firearm enhancements in this case, Sullivan said many of the charges and enhancements were stayed because many of the charges revolved around the same set of operative facts.
Sullivan noted that Beavers’ actual sentence would have been several hundred years if all of the charges and enhancements were to run consecutive.
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