UPDATE, OCT. 22, 10:42 A.M.: A memorial campaign to raise money for funeral and burial expenses for slain bicyclist Shaun Eagleson raised $11,219 toward its $15,000 goal in its first 20 hours online.
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Click on this GoFundMe.com to contribute.
“Shaun was one of the most genuine, kind and humble individuals that I have had the pleasure of knowing,” reads the accompanying text posted by the deceased's cousin, Timothy Eagleson. “He was a great husband, son, nephew, cousin and friend to so many in his life. He had a deep love for his wife, animals and music. There has been a tremendous outpouring of positivity and love for Shaun and his family. He is survived by his loving and grieving wife Sandra, his mother Sylvia and his father Craig, who all need our continued love and support.”
Besides greatly appreciated donations of any amount, contributors are also invited to “share your positive stories of Shaun on this site so that we can continue to remember the affect that he had on others.”
According to a friend of the 30-year-old Fountain Valley resident, Eagleson was co-owner of Apex Audio studio in Huntington Beach and before that worked at Guitar Center in Pasadena. Facebook page, he worked at Guitar Center in Pasadena and, before that, Apex Audio in Huntington Beach. He was formerly a member of the Riverside band The Enemy Within.
Eagleson's accused killer Neil Storm Stephany described himself to jailers as a Narcotics Anonymous counselor, according to Newport Beach Police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella. (Such a position in the recovery group does not exist, say some eagle-eyed readers of our original post below.)
Arraignment for the 23-year-old Huntington Beach resident was rescheduled Tuesday for Nov. 14 in Central Jail in Santa Ana after Stephany was formally charged with second-degree murder, hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Ordered held on $1 million bail, Stephany also faces alleged probation violations stemming from previous cases.
According to court records viewed by City News Service, Stephany:
* pleaded guilty on Aug. 6, 2013, to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, both felonies, and was immediately sentenced to 180 days in jail and placed on three years of formal probation. He was also ordered to participate in a drug or alcohol program. On Feb. 3 of this year, he was ordered to spend another 90 days in jail in the case.
* pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence on Oct. 4, 2011, and was sentenced to a two-day jail term and placed on three years of informal probation. On Feb. 3 of this year, he was ordered to do another eight days in jail for that case.
* pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell on Oct. 14, 2010, and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail and placed on three years of formal probation. On May 19, 2011, he was sentenced to another 90 days in jail in the case.
ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 21, 7:02 A.M.: Newport Beach Police plan to seek a murder charge against a 23-year-old, self-described Narcotics Anonymous counselor for an alleged DUI-fueled, hit-and-run death of a Fountain Valley bicyclist, authorities say.
Shaun Eagleson, 30, was riding his bike west on East Coast Highway near Los Trancos around 5 p.m. Sunday when he was struck by a vehicle that was also going westbound, according to Jennifer Manzella, the Newport Beach Police spokeswoman. Eagleson was declared dead about 9:45 p.m. Sunday at a local hospital, Manzella said.
Neil Storm Stephany of Huntington Beach was arrested at Newport Center Drive and East Coast Highway shortly after the collision, Manzella said.
He was booked on suspicion of felony drunken driving, hit and run, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, but Manzella said police intend to seek a second-degree murder charge because Stephany had a previous DUI conviction and was told he could be charged with murder if he ended up killing someone while driving intoxicated.
The 23-year-old was being held without bail at Orange County Jail, where a jailer told City News Service that Stephany he told a jailer he worked as a counselor with Narcotics Anonymous, Manzella told City News Service.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.