Two Camp Pendleton Marines accused in the drive-by shooting of a sailor outside a Barrio Logan fastfood restaurant in November 2003 are being tried on murder and other charges in San Diego Superior Court. Lance Cpl. Myron Thomas, 22, fired an AK47 assault rifle from a car as it circled the parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant on Main Street, a prosecutor told two juries this week.
The other defendant, Lance Cpl. Kenneth Hall, 20, was the driver of the car, Deputy District Attorney Michael Groch said. The two marines met while serving in Iraq and had recently returned from a tour of duty at the time of the shooting. The men’s trials are being conducted in the same courtroom but with separate juries because some of the evidence is not admissible against both defendants. During opening statements Thursday in Hall’s case, defense attorney Allen Bloom said Hall had no idea that Thomas had the nearly 3footlong assault rifle in the back seat and was stunned when six shots were fired in rapid succession at a large group of people in the parking lot.