Three men charged in the 2021 fatal freeway shooting of 2-year-old Jasper Wu were in court Monday for the start of their preliminary hearing.
It’s been nearly a year and a half since Jasper was shot and killed in his parent’s car driving on Interstate 880.
As the suspects prepared to hear some of the evidence against them, a Wu family spokesperson spoke outside courts saying Jasper's parents only want justice.
“Right now their focus is on moving this case forward and getting it done,” saud Nobert Chu.
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Trevor Green, Ivory Bivins and Johnny Jackson are facing multiple charges including murder, for the deadly shooting, but all charges were filed under the prior district attorney.
The highly-criticized case has drawn concern from the public with some critics of new DA Pamela Price claiming she may drop the gang enhancements.
“It has nothing to do with politics, it has everything to do with responsibility and accountability for the conduct that was committed on the freeway in November 2021 and the resulting impact on a completely innocent 23-month-old little boy,” said Chu.
The three suspects in the case are believed to have been shooting at each other when Jasper was hit.
“I think the gang enhancements are being used to bootstrap the weaknesses of the case,” said Ernie Castillo, Ivory Bivins’ attorney. “They are really being used to identify a certain group of people who grew up in low-income areas.”
Two of the defendants also face attempted murder charges for shooting, and wounding, the third defendant, Jackson.
“We really look forward to this preliminary hearing because we really want to establish the lack of involvement from Mr. Bevins,” said Castillo.
Monday’s hearing focused on testimony from CHP officers and the eight bullet casings they found in the area on the day of the shooting.
Prosecutors argue it exemplifies the shooters as reckless, while the defense argues that the casing were moved by traffic, making it difficult to determine where they came from.
All three defendants have separate attorneys. Jackson’s lawyer is preparing to ask for all charges to be dropped by the end of the hearing -- a hearing that is expected to last at least three days.
