SAN DIEGO – A man who had a fistfight with another man before allegedly shooting him to death in a Pacific Beach condominium was ordered this week to stand trial for murder in October.
After hearing testimony for several days, San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber ordered Richard Kyle Herrman, 33, to stand trial for the Jan. 26 death of Gabriel Fergus, 51.
Weber set a trial date for Oct. 14 after Herrman pleaded not guilty. She also ordered him to stand trial for possession of a firearm by a felon and being a person prohibited from possessing ammunition.
Both men knew each other, and a neighbor said Herrman’s parents owned the unit in the 1600 block of Chalcedony Street.
The neighbor, a woman named Stacy, said Fergus would ring a buzzer and someone would let him inside, or he would hop a fence to get in.
Stacy recalled the Jan. 26 incident at 10:10 p.m., in which she called 911 after hearing a gunshot after Fergus was shot. She identified Herrman as living in the unit, and also identified Fergus from a photograph.
Police detectives testified that the two men engaged in a fist fight before the shooting. Fergus was shot once in the chest, and autopsy photos were shown in the preliminary hearing.
After Herrman was ordered to stand trial, his attorney, Andrew Feaster, asked Weber to reduce his bail, which drew an incredulous response from the judge.
“I just bound your client over on a murder charge. I’m not going to be reducing bail,” said Weber.
Herrman remains in the Rocky Mountain Detention Facility on $2 million bail.