Tattoo shop owner charged with murder testifies about why he shot homeless man
The tattoo and body piercing shop owner who fatally shot a homeless man behind his business last year testified during his trial this week that he drew his gun in self-defense and pulled the trigger because he was afraid for his life and had no other choice.
“You could see it in his eyes; I knew he meant business,” Jeremy Don Fennell said on the stand Tuesday. “I knew I was consistent in telling him to stay back. If he closed that gap he would get my gun, he could kill my wife, he could kill my customers … That literally, in 38 years of my life, was the most fear I’ve ever felt.”
Fennell also testified about disparaging comments he made about homeless people in the months and days leading up to the shooting, saying they were misconstrued or taken out of context.
Fennell shot 25-year-old Lawrence Walker following a brief encounter behind Fennell’s McHenry Avenue business in March 2019.
The District Attorney’s Office charged him with with first degree murder and enhancements for predetermination and using a firearm.
Fennell says it was self-defense.
His attorney, Kirk McAllister, told The Bee last year that if Fennell was a police officer instead of a businessman, he never would have been charged.
At the time of the shooting, Fennell had a permit to carry a concealed gun.
He testified that he got the permit several years ago after hearing then-Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson say on television that the department did not have sufficient resources to protect the community. Christianson’s comments came in the wake of the 2012 murders of a deputy and locksmith who were shot while conducting an eviction.
Fennell said the sheriff encouraged business owners and others who wanted to protect themselves to get a permit.
“That is the first time I ever thought I would need one at the fact the sheriff said we should apply,” Fennell testified.
The shooting at Sin Cal
On March 15, 2019, Fennell and his wife arrived at Sin Cal Industries, Fennell’s tattoo business at 3117 McHenry Ave., to find Walker and Jessica Estrada sitting on the sidewalk behind the shop.
Fennell retrieved his gun from his glove compartment, concealed it in a hooded sweatshirt and tucked it under his armpit.
Fennell testified that he was about to open the business and there were customers waiting in line at the front so he approached Walker and Estrada and asked them if they’d been there long.
He said in his encounters with homeless people in the past he’s found that is a respectful way to let them know he’s opening for business soon and would like them to move along.
Fennell said Estrada responded that they had not been there long so he asked them to collect their belongings and leave.
That’s when Fennell said Walker told him, “I’m not afraid of your gun.”
Fennel testified he didn’t know how Walker knew he had a gun but assumed he might have seen him get it from the glove compartment or that the handle was visible.
He testified that Walker and Estrada both yelled profanities at him and that Walker “popped up” from the ground.
“He came so fast and so hard, so aggressive and full of rage that it stunned me at first that I stepped back and was like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Fennell said.
Fennell testified that he’d seen several metallic objects in Walker’s lap while he was sitting down and saw something in his hand when he stood up. He said he couldn’t tell what it was but thought it might be a butterfly knife.
Fennell testified that Walker repeated that he wasn’t afraid of his gun and Fennell repeatedly told him to stay back.
“As he continued to come at me my concern was this guy was going to get my gun, that he was going to use what’s in his hand to kill me, or use this gun to kill me and then have my gun to use on whoever else was a witness,” he said.
Fennell testified he moved his gun from under the hoodie and into his right hand. He repeatedly told walker to stop and extended both hands out in front of him as a motion for him to stop.
“The whole time he’s advancing and pressing forward while screaming,” Fennell said.
“At the point I tell him, ‘I don’t want to shoot you, don’t take another step’ ... he looks over toward my vehicle he looks back at me and he steps right out at me and continues to attack,” Fennell said on the witness stand, his voice cracking as he appeared to hold back tears.
He fired when Walker stepped off the sidewalk into the road.
The shooting caught on camera
The incident was captured on surveillance camera but there was no audio.
The defense and prosecution have presented different descriptions of Walker’s final step; Fennell testified that he lunged at him but Modesto Police Detective Joshua Grant in his arrest affidavit called it a side step to the left.
Grant, the lead detective on the case, testified that during his interview with Fennell the defendant never used the word “lunge” to describe Walker’s advances and never mentioned any butterfly knife or any weapons he thought Walker might have had. Fennell also never said Walker threatened him verbally, Grant testified.
Estrada, Walker’s wife, in her testimony and statements to police gave a different version of events that painted Fennell as the aggressor.
Estrada testified during a preliminary hearing last year that she could see the gun tucked under Fennell’s arm as he approached.
After a brief conversation Estrada said she told Fennell they were leaving and didn’t want to start any issues. She testified that Fennell told them “to hurry the f--- up and get the f--- out of there.”
She said Walker stood up and told Fennell “Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you have the right to be a dick.”
She testified that Walker was about five feet away from Fennell when the business owner pulled out the gun and pointed it at her boyfriend. Estrada testified that Walker stopped moving forward.
Fennell told Walker “Don’t come any closer, don’t be stupid,” according to Estrada. She said Walker told Fennell “Don’t take the pu--- way out, put the gun down and fight me like a man.”
She said Walker wasn’t advancing on Fennell when Fennell shot him.
On the witness stand Tuesday Fennell was also asked about posts he made on Instagram as well as remarks to police officers captured on body cameras regarding his feelings toward homeless people.
After one of several burglaries at his business, Fennell told an officer about a conversation he was having with a woman at Costco where he went to purchase a security camera for his business.
The woman, discussing solutions to house homeless people, said, “Why don’t we just build stadiums for homeless people?” And Fennell responded, “Put ‘em all in there and burn it down.”
Fennell testified that he meant the homeless people would likely burn it down, not that he wanted them to burn up in it.
Posts on Instagram
Six days before the shooting, a post of Fennell’s Instagram account advised people to stop giving homeless people donations because the items only end up as trash in the back of businesses like his that “real humans with real lives” have to clean up.
The post goes on to say that all the homeless want are “... back packs to steal s--- and hoodies to hide their pathetic nasty faces while they do those crimes .... If we can not kill them all like we can other pests then we must not feed the wild drug addicts.”
Fennell testified the post was misconstrued.
“My post was to say, ‘look guys there’s this group of people who are … hopeless and if we give our light to them -- it’s like going down a dark trail -- If you shine your flashlight everywhere you’re not focusing on what needs to be done,” he testified. “We can do a lot of good with everybody’s help and everybody’s effort but it needs to be given to the right direction. While they do need help it’s a different kind of help than just giving them our clothes and items they may not want.”
Police initially arrested Fennell on suspicion of murder several hours after the shooting. But prosecutors later declined to file charges against Fennell, saying they wanted to conduct further investigation. Five months after the shooting, prosecutors filed the murder charge.
He has remained in custody with a bail of $3 million ever since.
The jury must determine if Fennell committed murder, manslaughter or killed Walker in self defense or imperfect self defense.
Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Linda A. McFadden described the legal definitions for all of them to the jury on Wednesday afternoon prior to closing arguments by McAllister and Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeff Laugero.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 3:49 PM.
