Alleged Paso Robles murder victim saw his friend stabbed to death, court testimony shows
Paso Robles resident Trevon Perry watched helplessly as his best friend was stabbed in the chest during what he said started out as a fistfight.
He performed CPR on the dying man and caught a glimpse of his assailant running off into the night with “something shiny” in his hand, Perry testified in court.
“He was conscious the whole time, but he was, he couldn’t speak or nothing like that,” Perry recalled of his friend, Christopher Wilson, staring up at him as Wilson lay bleeding, a transcript of his testimony shows.
Perry eventually got Wilson to an ambulance and followed behind in another vehicle, watching as paramedics continued resuscitation efforts, he testified in court in December 2019.
Wilson, 23, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Atascadero resident Kejuan Bynum has been charged with his murder.
Within a year from Wilson’s stabbing, Perry would also be dead, his remains discovered at a home in Riverside. An acquaintance of Perry and Bynum’s has been arrested on suspicion of Perry’s murder.
Nicholas Ron, 23, of Paso Robles, made his first appearance in San Luis Obispo Superior Court Thursday, but has not yet entered a plea in Perry’s killing, which authorities say was carried out with a handgun.
Ron’s name is not mentioned in testimony in Bynum’s case.
Though prosecutors in the two cases have not charged either defendant with any gang-related allegations, the transcript shows another witness in Bynum’s case said she heard him claim to be affiliated with a Los Angeles-based street gang just before the stabbing.
Perry, 27, was reported missing in mid-March after he was last seen leaving a friend’s house and authorities soon suspected foul play was involved.
His remains were allegedly found in a house in Riverside on June 18, Paso Robles Police Chief Ty Lewis said at a June 26 news conference.
The announcement of his death sent shock across Paso Robles, where hundreds of area residents gathered at a vigil Monday evening to remember Perry as “always overflowing with happiness” and serving as the “heartbeat” of his family.
“Christopher was like his brother, and Trevon made the brave choice to testify and pursue justice for his best friend,” Perry’s cousin, Porche Hill, said at the vigil. “Now Trevon, like Christopher before him, has been taken from us by another senseless act of violence.”
Officials have not revealed a motive for Perry’s death, but San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow previously told The Tribune his office has not identified a direct link between Perry’s testimony and disappearance.
Fistfight at Shandon home turns deadly
Perry testified for the prosecution at Bynum’s preliminary hearing on Dec. 4, 2019, in the San Luis Obispo Superior Court courthouse.
During the hearing, which lasted about four hours, according to court records, Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen heard testimony from Perry and two women who were present at the house where Wilson was allegedly stabbed by Bynum on June 1, 2019.
Van Rooyen ultimately found that the trio’s separate testimony was enough evidence to establish probable cause and move the case toward trial, which is tentatively scheduled for November.
Perry was the first to give testimony. He said that, on June 1, 2019, he and Wilson stopped at a friend’s house in Shandon to hang out.
Several housemates were at the home, as well as a couple of young children, Perry testified.
According to Perry, he and Wilson sat with the friend, had a couple drinks, and watched music videos. Within about 30 minutes, Bynum arrived with a “handle,” or large bottle, of hard alcohol, which had been mostly consumed, Perry said.
Bynum lived at the time in a nearby trailer, testimony shows, and the group were all familiar with each other and had previously been friendly.
Perry testified that Bynum was “pretty drunk” and grew visibly agitated as time went on, and began “picking on” Wilson. The two began “going back and forth,” Perry said, though Perry could not recall what they were arguing about.
Perry and Wilson left to the side of the house to smoke a cigarette, and Perry testified that Bynum followed shortly thereafter, where he again began arguing with Wilson.
According to Perry, Bynum took a swing at Wilson, who ducked the punch and landed a heavy blow to the jaw of Bynum, who fell to the ground.
Wilson allowed a dazed Bynum to get to his feet, and Bynum tackled Wilson and placed him in a headlock, Perry testified. The two tumbled through a plastic fence, and were eventually pulled apart by Perry and a young woman at the house.
The Tribune is not naming the two female witnesses in Bynum’s case.
The group separated the two men, but about 10 minutes later, Perry testified, Wilson’s face “lit up” as Bynum approached from behind Perry, who was holding one of the children at the time.
Bynum and Wilson resumed fighting, with Perry witnessing Bynum landing what appeared to be two jab-like punches to Wilson’s chest.
It wasn’t until after the two were again broken apart from grappling on the ground that Perry said he saw something shiny in Bynum’s hand and realized he was holding a knife with a 3- to 4-inch-long bladen he said.
Bynum ran from the scene, and Perry said he tried to help his friend to his feet.
“He took one step and fell,” Perry said, recalling a wound above Wilson’s left eye, and a wet spot on his shirt.
Perry said he and one of the housemates laid Wilson down and tore open his shirt, finding two stab wounds in his chest. The two performed CPR on Wilson as an ambulance was called.
Wilson’s cause of death was ruled to be “sharp force injuries of the head and chest, three apparent stab wounds located in the left chest area over the heart, in the upper right chest below the clavicle, and above the left eye,” according to court documents.
Defendant made gang remarks before stabbing, witness says
One of the housemates testified that she heard Wilson repeatedly tell an angry Bynum that he didn’t want to fight.
Bynum responded by exclaiming, “on the set,” she testified, saying that was a slang term she didn’t understand.
“Like, ‘on the set,’ ‘on PAW rules.’ Stuff like that,” the woman said. “I don’t even know what it means.”
“Did he say ‘PIRU rules?’” asked deputy district attorney Delaney Henretty, referring to the Pirus, a Compton-based street gang associated with the Bloods.
“PIRU, maybe. I don’t know,” the woman said. “’I’m PIRU,’ or something.”
The District Attorney’s Office said there is no indication Wilson’s death was associated with or for the benefit of any criminal gang.
Ron, who was an acquaintance of Perry’s, was arrested June 28 at his place of employment in Paso Robles following a months-long, multi-agency investigation into Perry’s disappearance and the service of dozens of search warrants across the state.
If convicted, both Bynum and Ron face the possibility of life in prison.
Police also arrested Vivianna Rodriguez, 24, also of Paso Robles, on June 30 in relation to Perry’s death. Police say Rodriguez acted as an accessory to Perry’s murder, but have not detailed her alleged role.
She was released after posting an unspecified amount of bail and has a tentative court date in August.
This story was originally published July 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
