Suspect's, Slaying Victim's Families Face Off

Tensions boiled over outside a San Diego courtroom Wednesday when a family member of a man in custody confronted relatives of two teens killed by gunfire.

Derelle Oliver, 18, is accused of a role in the killing Michael Taylor, 15, and Monique Palmer, 17, in the Valencia Park neighborhood of San Diego last month. Oliver faces multiple counts, including two counts of murder, though only as an accomplice in the killing; two counts of assault with a deadly weapon; and a single conspiracy count.

Oliver's and Taylor's grandmothers argued Wednesday about who was responsible for the crime. Oliver's grandmother insisted there was no evidence her grandson fired the shots that killed the two teens. Just minutes earlier inside the courtroom, a witness testified that Oliver was not the gunman.

"I'm positive that Derelle was not the shooter," a teenage girl told the court.

That witness also testified that Taylor indicated on the night of the shooting that he was a gang member. As the boy's grandmother said outside court, though, "somebody killed my baby."

Outside court Thursday, Palmer's mother, Tracey Swafford,  was obviously still devastated by her loss.

"This was like the worst nightmare for any parent to take.... My daughter wasn't a gang member, she was a giver," Swafford said.

Palmer was senior at Lincoln High School. She died at the corner of Groveland and San Jacinto drives. Her friend Taylor was a freshman at Point Loma High School. He died at a hospital, according to a published report.

Palmer and Taylor went to a party several blocks from the shooting location, said police. Three vehicles containing suspected gang members, showed up at the party. The suspects pointed guns at the partygoers and yelled gang challenges before driving away, said police.

Several minutes later, a group of people that included Palmer and Taylor left the party and walked north on San Jacinto Drive. Two suspects walked up to the group and started shooting at them.

β€œOther people ran, but I guess she didn't have a chance to run,” Palmer's friend Janelle Bennett told the San Diego Union-Tribune. β€œI was with her all day yesterday. It's just hard to believe she's gone.” 

Palmer recently learned that she'd been accepted to California State University Los Angeles the paper reported.

Taylor was reportedly described as a rising football star who was a starting cornerback on the school's varsity team.

β€œSome nights he'd play JV with us, but on Friday nights he'd go out and play varsity,” a junior varsity teammate told the paper.

Oliver faces life in prison if he is convicted on all the counts. The preliminary hearing is expected to last several more days.

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