Men Conferred Prior To Deadly Confrontation In RivCo: Court Papers

TEMECULA, CA — A man accused of killing a 39-year-old Temecula resident was acting in concert with a friend to carry out a hostile confrontation involving the friend's girlfriend and her new lover when the shooting occurred, according to court papers released Thursday.

Micah Chazz Harris, 22, of Temecula allegedly gunned down Aaron Bowers early Saturday morning at a residence in the 32900 block of Josheroo Court, just south of Highway 79, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Harris was charged Wednesday with murder and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. His friend, 20-year-old Jacob Tavion Lamar Godfrey of Temecula, was charged with firearm assault resulting in great bodily injury

Harris made his initial court appearance Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who set his arraignment for Thursday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. Godfrey was slated to appear before her on Jan. 15.

He's being held on $60,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center, where Harris is being held on $1 million bail.

An arrest warrant declaration filed by sheriff's investigators indicated the deadly encounter with Bowers evolved from a conversation between Harris and Godfrey in the predawn hours Saturday, when they were at the home of Godfrey's girlfriend, whose identity was not disclosed.

The affidavit said Godfrey had become aware his girlfriend was sleeping with another man, also not identified, and the defendant wanted to "(expletive) him up" for winning her affections.

The woman, her new lover, Bowers and several other people left the residence to spend time at a casino for a couple of hours, at which point Godfrey and Harris stepped into her garage and "formed a plan to hide when the group returned" and then physically attack the girlfriend's paramour, according to the declaration.

"While discussing these plans, Harris took a (semiautomatic) handgun out of his waistband and stated he could use the gun if came to it, because Bowers was very large, and they did not think they could fight him," the narrative said.

The girlfriend, her new lover, Bowers and several other people returned to the house shortly before 5 a.m., prompting Godfrey to accost the man "about his relationship (with his girlfriend)," culminating in the defendant pushing the man and then "putting him in a choke hold," court papers stated.

Bowers tried to come to the man's aid, "and Harris pointed the gun at him," the affidavit said.

"Bowers saw Harris with the gun and became angry, chasing Harris," the document continued. "Harris ran upstairs, turned at the end of the hall and pointed the gun at Bowers. When Bowers reached the top of the stairs, Harris shot him six times."

The confrontation downstairs immediately ended when the shots rang out. Harris then used his mobile phone to dial 911, saying "I just shot someone. The gun is right here in my hand. My name is Micah Harris," according to the declaration.

Sheriff's Sgt. Jarred Bishop said that, a few minutes later, patrol deputies "arrived on scene and detained Harris" without incident.

Bowers was located on the upstairs landing and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The other parties in the home were questioned but not arrested, including Godfrey. After further investigation, however, detectives on Wednesday arrested him and requested that prosecutors add him to the criminal complaint against Harris.

Neither Harris nor Godfrey has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

— City News Service