Huntington Beach Man Convicted In 2019 Newport Beach Double Homicide

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A 47-year-old Huntington Beach man was found guilty Tuesday for the 2019 double murder of Wendi Sue Miller and Darren Donald Partch in a Newport Beach condominium.

A jury convicted Jamon Rayan Buggs of two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances allegations of multiple victims.

Judge Gregg Prickett is scheduled to sentence Buggs on June 3 and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors said the motivations for the killings stemmed from jealousy after Buggs mistakenly believed Partch was dating his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Brewers.

Brewers and Partch had met at a Costa Mesa gym sometime in February or March 2019, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Dave Porter. The two exchanged social media usernames to keep in touch after the encounter.

The two never dated, but Buggs was convinced otherwise, Porter said.

Buggs used "premium web services" to find Partch's phone number and address, according to Porter. He then called the number to threaten Partch to stay away from Brewers.

Partch agreed to stop talking with Brewers, but Buggs remained convinced the two were seeing each other, Porter said.

Buggs was outside Partch's home on April 20, 2019, around 1:45 a.m., armed with a .38-caliber handgun, Porter said.

Buggs entered the home through an unlocked door after hearing Partch being intimate with someone he thought was Brewers. However, Partch was actually with Miller, Porter said.

When Buggs entered the bedroom, Porter said he shot Partch and Miller in the head.

Later in the day after Partch and Miller were killed, Porter said Buggs attempted to break into the Irvine townhome of Jared Young, the man Brewers was actually dating.

However, it was the townhome of someone else with the same name. A woman at the townhome screamed after seeing Buggs, Porter said.

Buggs fled from the area and fired his gun in the process. Porter said a bullet found at the Irvine townhome matched bullets found at Partch's condominium.

Police eventually caught up with Buggs, who led them on a short high-speed chase, Porter said. A gun and a notebook with Partch's phone number and address were recovered.

City News Service contributed to this report.