The surviving witness to the 2008 fatal shooting of his friend during a robbery outside a San Francisco pot club today in court identified the man on trial for the murder as one of the two men who robbed him.
“Not a doubt at all,” the man, who prosecutors have requested not be identified out of concern for his safety, testified in San Francisco Superior Court, during the trial of Ijeoma Ogbuagu, 21, of San Francisco.
Ogbuagu is charged with murder and robbery for the Sept. 14, 2008, killing of 23-year-old Royshawn Holden outside the Mr. Nice Guy marijuana dispensary at Valencia Street and Duboce Avenue in the Mission District.
Police have said Holden, who had a medical marijuana card, and his friend since childhood pooled $23 that night and drove in Holden’s white Lexus to the club to buy marijuana.
After Holden returned to his car with the marijuana, Ogbuagu and another man, Julius Hughes, 25, of Brentwood, confronted the two men at the car, according to police. They then allegedly robbed the pair at gunpoint of the pot, cell phones and $2 cash, and fatally shot Holden.
Holden’s friend ran off and was shot at, but escaped, later returning to the scene to speak with police.
“Even to this day, I still can’t believe that my friend is dead,” the man told jurors today.
Defense attorney Franz Fuetsch has questioned the eyewitness’ identification of Ogbuagu, and has said his client was not there that night.
Under cross-examination today, the man told Fuetsch, “If you went through a tragic event like that, you can’t forget it.”
“I pretty much see it every day,” he said.
In the days following his friend’s killing, he identified Ogbuagu from a photo in a San Francisco middle school yearbook, and later identified Hughes as the shooter from a MySpace photo.
Ogbuagu was arrested Sept. 23 in Burlingame, and Hughes was arrested Dec. 5 at his home in Brentwood.
Hughes, however, was released from custody in late February after a criminal grand jury failed to return a murder indictment on him because the witness identification was not strong enough.
The man testified today that he was certain Hughes was the shooter.
Ogbuagu’s trial resumes Tuesday morning.
