Conflicting stories told at murder trial

Molly Ball

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Witnesses gave conflicting testimony Wednesday as to whether or not Steven Perry, the third person to be tried for the murder of Benito Zambrano-Lopez, talked about the killing afterward.

Perry, 18, also known as "Little Mizz," is charged with murder and attempted robbery for his role in the crime. He and two other teenagers allegedly accosted the 48-year-old laborer as the man walked home from the market.

The other two assailants, Tyrone "Ti Mizz" Williams and Julius "TT Loc" Bradford, were tried and convicted of murder earlier this year.

On Wednesday morning, Nelson Rodgers, a three-time felon with a near-debilitating stammer, said he heard only Williams talk about the crime, though the other two were in the room and didn't contradict him.

"I was talking to Ti Mizz and he told me what he had just done," Rodgers said, insisting Perry didn't say anything.

But another witness, Chetique Vercher, said Perry wasn't so shy.

"He was talking about how the man said 'Ay yi yi' after they shot him," Vercher, visibly pregnant under a denim jacket, said.

Vercher is the girlfriend of Aaron "Bam" Daniels, at whose house the conversation about Zambrano-Lopez allegedly took place shortly after the shooting on June 8, 2003.

Shot several times with a .25-caliber pistol, Zambrano-Lopez died the next day.

Daniels, not thought to be involved in this crime, was sentenced last month to 40 years to life in prison for another murder, the 2003 shooting of Anthony Limongello.

At the time of the Zambrano-Lopez slaying, police said they thought there might be a gang connection, but District Judge Michelle Leavitt ruled before Perry's trial that no testimony or speculation about gang activities or affiliations could be presented to the jury.

Disputing that Perry, Williams and Bradford set out to commit a robbery, Perry's lawyer, Ivette Maningo, emphasized that Zambrano-Lopez's wallet, containing $123, was still on him after the shooting.

Another witness, Tracey Jimenez, who saw the shooting while walking her child, said she saw one of the three pat down the victim before running away.

To make Perry culpable for the murder, Prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci must show that there was a conspiracy between the three. Perry is not accused of having fired the gun.