By Victoria Lembesis
SACRAMENTO – Defendant Julian Gill faces three felonies after being accused of shooting his girlfriend, according to testimony here at a preliminary hearing in front of Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Ernest Sawtelle on Tuesday.
The victim, his girlfriend, is claiming Gill asked her to lie about his shooting her.
Judge Sawtelle rejected the defense story Tuesday, and ruled Gill should face trial.
The defendant—charged with assault, assault of a co-inhabitant and unlawful discharge of a firearm—claims the victim was shot in a “drive-by” when she went out to check the mail in April. He said he heard the gunshot coming from outside, observed the victim had been shot in the leg, and he took her to Kaiser South Hospital for treatment.
And, according to police, the victim had originally stated that there were no guns in the house and that she was shot in a drive-by at her mailbox.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that the victim was shot by the mailbox, according to Sacramento Police Dept. Det. Justin Sario, who noted that there was no blood found on or around the mailbox of their home.
On July 23, the victim changed her story.
She spoke with Det. Sario about the incident, and said she and the defendant were the only two in the apartment when she woke up and went to the kitchen for breakfast. She walked back into the master bedroom.
She told investigators that she was watching television, then her ears then started ringing and she could not hear anything. She then noticed she had been shot in the leg. She then turned to her right to see the defendant holding an AR-15 style rifle.
The victim, who sustained a gunshot wound on her right leg near her upper thigh, said the defendant helped her get into her vehicle and drove her to the hospital.
On the ride to the hospital he told her to say she was injured in a drive-by shooting and not shot by him.
The defense stipulated that on April 8, while wearing clean gloves and a mask, the CSI officer on the case transported and submitted one “gunshot residue kit” that was taken from the hands of defendant Gill.
The prosecution said a fragment of a bullet was found in the bedroom, and there were also holes in the mattress and sheet of the bed, indicating that only one shot was fired.
Investigators also said a box of 9 mm ammunition was found in the vehicle in which the defendant drove the victim to the hospital, and was missing 12 rounds out of the box of 50.
Allegedly, there were also multiple images and videos on the victim’s phone that showed the defendant pointing guns at her including the AR-15 style rifle the victim was allegedly shot with. One of these videos found on her phone includes a video where the defendant was calling the victim expletives and pointing a loaded gun at her.
The case has been put out for arraignment and trial-setting Sept. 4.
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