San Pedro resident talks his way to Guilty of Manslaughter charge

Shandoy Jeffords

The trial concluded today against a witness turned suspect, twenty-two year old Shandoy Jeffords. Jeffords is one of four men who were accused of killing fifty year old Antonio Almendarez on July twenty-fifth, 2005 during a Burglary at Fido’s Restaurant and Bar in San Pedro. In 2007, Jeffords was the prosecution’s main witness when Luis Lalin, Elvis Williams and Austin Mungia were tried for the murder. But he never showed up to testify and the men were freed. Suspecting that he was involved, the D.P.P. gave directives for Jeffords to be arrested and charged with Manslaughter and Burglary in December 2008. Prosecutor Shamilla Williams’ case depended on a caution statement given by Jeffords, which was deemed admissible by Judge Adolph Lucas following a voir dire. In the statement, he told police that he and a friend known as Dragon waited on the beach for Fido’s to close then moved in on Almendarez, the security guard.  Almendarez was restrained with his own handcuffs, but according to Jeffords, he put up a fight and Dragon hit him several times on the head with a crow bar. Jeffords claims he simply stood and watched as Almendarez was then dragged behind the bar. He says he eventually got scared and ran off, not knowing the guard was already dead. While he implicated himself in the caution statement, Jeffords claimed in court that senior police officer, Chester Williams, threatened to charge him for murder. Jeffords further claimed that Williams promised to help him since he is the brother of a police sergeant and then coached him on what to say. During the sum up, Judge Lucas advised the jury that if they had doubts about the caution statement, they were to disregard it. He also noted that police claim Jeffords willingly offered to speak on August thirteenth, 2005 but the statement was not recorded until the following day. At the end of three and a half hours of deliberation, two jurors believed Jeffords was innocent, but seven believed he was guilty. So while it was not unanimous, a guilty verdict for both Manslaughter and Burglary was delivered just after three o’clock this afternoon. Sentencing has been deferred until June sixth.