Hate crime enhancement dropped on defendants in Pettigrew case

The three individuals being accused of beating and stabbing a 33-year-old black man to death earlier this year will not be facing a hate crime enhancement in addition to the murder charge.

Ryan Valdez, 18, Kevin Garcia, 21, and Tyler Dean, 25, were arrested last May, accused of beating and stabbing Hugh Pettigrew as he walked home on Jan. 22. All three defendants have pled not guilty to first-degree murder.

The three defendants are currently being charged with murder. Dean is also being charged for carrying a dirk or dagger on his person, and for unlawfully possessing a controlled substance.

In addition, the three face an allegation that the murder was gang-related to the murder charge, along with the hate crime enhancement. In previous Village News articles, it was reported that investigators believed the attack was because of Pettigrew’s race. The victim was black and suspects are affiliated with a Latino gang.

However, according to district attorney office representative Steve Walker, the hate crime enhancement was not refiled.

“That’s not to say the hate crime enhancement was dismissed; it was simply not bound over by the judge,” said Walker. “There is a gang enhancement still, however.”

After the preliminary hearing, the district attorney’s office would have only bound over the charge on one defendant.

“When we refiled the case after the preliminary, we chose not to refile the enhancement for any of them,” said Walker.

Pettigrew was attacked on Jan. 22 after walking home from the McDonald’s on the intersection of Mission and Ammunition at approximately 10:45 when he was attacked on the 400 block of Ammunition Road. Video camera surveillance shows no apparent indication of provocation before the attack. His assailants fled in a red 1997 Honda Civic parked in the Albertsons store and were driven away by an unidentified woman, according to Sheriff’s investigators.

Pettigrew was able to walk to his apartment on Alturas, then collapsed. Emergency responders were called, and he was taken to the hospital, but he died 18 days later from complications.

Trial for the three suspects is set to begin this July.