QUESTA, N.M. (KRQE) – News 13 is learning more about how the trial of a teen accused of shooting and killing his 13-year-old friend when playing with guns ended in a hung jury. “I had told the family and my client going in that the worst case scenario would be a hung jury,” said Lizzy Bunker, attorney for Porfirio Brown.
Brown is accused of shooting and killing 13-year-old Amber Archuleta when playing with guns at his Questa home. However, after the trial, the jury came back unable to make a unanimous decision. “I think a weakness from the beginning is that they don’t have a firearm,” said Bunker.
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Brown’s mother also testified during the trial. “She was asked if her son had ever told her what really happened…she said that in November that he did tell her that the brother was the shooter,” said Bunker. She said jurors couldn’t decide if the victim’s brother or Brown were the shooter while there was no proof of where the firearm went.
District Attorney Marcus Montoya said wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the trial. He plans to meet with the victim’s family next week to decide if and how to retry the case. Meanwhile, Bunker said this prolongs the process for her client.
“My kid still has the murder pending and hanging over his head as a 14-year-old so of course, that’s very heavy,” she said.
But, she’s ready to defend Brown again. “When I met him, he was such a child he was 14, he still is 14. But, I think this has forced him to grow up quite a bit and so, that actually makes me sad,” she said. “I just definitely think they’re trying to prosecute an innocent child.”
Brown’s father, William Brown is also facing charges. He is the first one to be charged under Bennie’s Law for making a firearm accessible to minors. He is slated to go to trial later this month.
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