The murder trial of two Oakland teenagers ended in a mistrial for one, but the other could be facing 50-years-to-life in prison.
The two teens were on trial for the murder of 34-year-old Quinn Boyer, a Santa Clara County paramedic killed during an April 2013 attempted carjacking along Keller Avenue in Oakland.
The jury was deadlocked 7-to-5. Sources say there was doubt about whether 18-year-old Christian Burton actually pulled the trigger on the gun that killed the paramedic.
“It means a longer battle,” said Liz Boyer, the victim’s widow. “He can be tried again, because they could have acquitted him and they didn't.”
Jurors did, however, convict 17-year-old David McNeal of first-degree murder and felony carjacking. McNeal was convicted of two other felonies stemming from a two-day crime spree. Sources involved in the case say the combination could lengthen McNeal’s sentence from 50 years to life in prison.
McNeal is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 4.
Attorneys in the Burton case are expected to meet in two weeks in the first step that could lead to his retrial.
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Before his death, Quinn had recently been accepted to Stanford's physician assistant program.
The Boyers, who lived in Dublin, had been married for less than a year.
