Two Florida men attempting to carry out a home-invasion robbery in 2019 at an Irvine residence that a group of young drug dealers used for a large-scale marijuana-selling operation were convicted on Monday, Sept. 15, of murder.
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Because the jurors determined the two men carried out the killing during a robbery, the defendants face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dramatic video shows Miller and Andrews, both armed with handguns, entering the house through a side door in the early morning hours and immediately attacking a sleeping man.
He screamed and fought back but was subdued and bound with duct tape.
A short time later, the video shows the man escaping his bindings and running for help — he manages to escape.
Two gunshots ring out upstairs, at least one hitting Alacla, who would die. At one point, defense lawyers say, Alcala was able to temporarily overpower one of his assailants before he was fatally shot.
Miller and Andrews fled.
DNA, neighborhood security footage of a vehicle the suspects rented, and cellphone-location data ultimately tied Andrews and Miller to the scene. Based on the weapons they were seen holding and ballistics evidence from the shooting scene, prosecutors said that Miller fired the fatal gunshots. But both men were charged with Alcala’s death.
A third man living at the home testified that it wasn’t a “drug house,” saying the three men met customers online and sent product through the mail. According to testimony during the trial, there were hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury items, and marijuana kept throughout the home.
A fourth resident, who was not involved in the drug trade, was sleeping behind a locked door.
“More product and greed is the motivation behind this,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Lexie Elliott told jurors during closing arguments last week in a Santa Ana courtroom.
A third defendant, Devon Quinland of Westminster, will be tried separately on conspiracy and assault charges. During the recent trial, the prosecution described Quinland as “roping” Andrews into the home invasion, with Andrews bringing in Miller.
Attorneys for Andrews and Miller denied that the men intended to rob or kill anyone, noting they left the product and cash behind. The defense accused investigators of failing to fully investigate who ordered the pair to go into the home, saying detectives “grabbed the two lowest rungs on a much taller ladder.”
Mark Fredrick, Andrews’ attorney, said his client acted under duress after he and his family were threatened by members of a drug cartel. The defense attorney showed jurors messages from Andrews’ phone that included apparent threats, such as, “When we find you, we showing you no sympathy.”
“These people live in a different world than we do,” Fredrick said. “This is a cartel. They kill people regularly … and they do it in scary, violent ways.”
The defense attorneys noted that Andrews and Miller didn’t ask the man they attacked and bound where valuables were located.
“He (Andrews) thought, when he entered the house, they were just going to scare somebody,” Fredrick said. “He was told there was just some punk kids in there and they weren’t going to fight back.”
According to a resident at the home, the young men who lived at the house had been targeted earlier for an attempted robbery, an incident that apparently ended with Alcala and a friend rushing and tackling an armed man. So when Andrews and Miller entered the home, their attorneys argued, they weren’t aware that the men living there were armed and willing to fight back.
The prosecution argued that regardless of whoever else may have been involved, Andrews and Miller were responsible for the shooting.
“These crimes don’t happen without someone willing to go inside and do it,” Elliott told jurors.
Andrews and Miller are scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Dec. 12.
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