A 28-year-old Placentia man pleaded not guilty Sept. 9 to assault and related charges that arose from a fight that injured a man four days before. But Peter Elijah Azevedo, who was due in court for another hearing today, may soon be fending off a homicide count as the 40-year-old victim died from his injuries Friday, according to prosecutors.
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Senior Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez told City News Service that a decision has not yet been made on whether to file more serious charges against Azevedo, who already pleaded not guilty to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and sentencing
enhancements of committing a crime for a street gang and causing a coma or paralysis.
Meanwhile, Steven Michael Roman, 35, of Anaheim, was arrested Monday in connection
with the brawl that resulted in the fatal head injury to Ramon Benito Castaneda.
The fight happened around 5:50 p.m. Sept. 5 in the 400 block of South Van Buren Street, and the Placentia Police Department is asking anyone who witnessed the melee or has information about the cast to call detectives at 714.993.8146. Anonymous tips can be left with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.TIP.OCCS.
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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.