Jesus BeyCleveland City Jail
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The attorney for a suspected gang member charged in connection with a deadly double shooting says surveillance video shows his client never fired a gun during the shootout.
Defense attorney Angelo Lonardo, in a letter to prosecutors, details the surveillance video of the Jan. 25 shooting that killed Darien Hayes, 22, and Julius Claxton, 30.
His client, Jesus Bey, 24, is charged with murder and possessing a gun as a felon. He is jailed on $1 million bond while the case is pending.
Bey is accused of running alongside a car and firing shots, killing Claxton, according to court records.
Bey is a former hired muscle for convicted heroin kingpin Tevaughn “Big Baby” Darling, is a former member of the LA Gunnaz and is a suspected member of the Loyal Always gang, according to court records.
Lonardo wrote the letter in order to ensure that prosecutors present the evidence if they take the case to a grand jury before a Feb. 7 preliminary hearing in Cleveland Municipal Court.
Lonardo declined additional comment beyond the letter.
He wrote that an employee of the Harvard Wine and Grill who viewed the bar’s surveillance footage from the shooting.
Bey went to the Harvard Wine and Grill for a repass ceremony for a woman close to Bey who had died. Bey attended get-together with his mother, girlfriend and sister, according to Lonard’s letter.
Bey left the bar with his family and talked with someone parked outside the bar. A Nissan Rogue drove up and a masked man inside the SUV fired several shots at Bey, possibly from an automatic weapon, Lonardo’s letter said.
Bey dove behind a truck parked on the street. He pulled out a handgun but did not fire any shots, according to Lonardo’s letter. He ran to a nearby car wash parking lot and a masked man who was in the Nissan followed him and fired several more shots, according to Lonardo.
Another person, not Bey, fired several shots back at the masked man, Lonardo’s letter said. Bey walked back into the restaurant to see if his girlfriend Kaçak Bahis and mother were okay since several bullets went through the bar, the letter said.
Two men were arrested shortly after the shooting after someone shot an unmarked Cleveland police vice cruiser, police said. A chase ensued and two brothers were arrested. One was charged with fleeing from police.
The other brother, while in the Cleveland City Jail, called Bey and threatened him. He told Bey that he shouldn’t go outside and that if he did he would “wet that b—- up,” according to Lonardo. He also told Bey on the jail call that if he made bail he’d “paint the city red,” Lonardo’s letter said.
Lonardo’s letter also says that associates of the brothers have contacted Bey’s family through social media and threatened them.
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