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Six youths to stand trialTeens charged in vigilante assault caseBy Jo EllisGlobe Staff Writer_CARTHAGE, Mo. — Six of the eight people charged with first-degree assault against Leonel Cifuenies were bound over for trial on Friday.The eight, along with two juveniles, allegedly beat Cifuenies, a native Guatemalan, on June 23 while on a quest for revenge against the person they believed had raped a 14-year-old friend the previous night. Rased on a description given by the alleged rape victim, the group was looking for a Hispanic man in a red car.But, police already had a suspect in custody. Francisco Vega, 36, was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing Thursday in wnich the 14-year-old identified him as her attacker.Preliminary hearings were conducted Friday for Mark Campbell, 21, and Patrick Walker, 24, both of 613 E. Third St. Waiving preliminary hearings were Danny E. Wise, 18, 613 E. Third St.; Chaa A. McMillen, 20,42 Fir Lane; Stephanie Shelden, 1419 Robin Lane; and Lori L. Pliler, 19, 425 N. Parsons St. All are from Carthage.Michael Willis, 18,613 E. Third St., was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing last week. He was arraigned Thursday in the trial division.Trial-division arraignments are set for Tuesday for Campbell, Wise and McMillen; for Friday, Aug. 1, for Ms. Shelden; and for Aug. 6 for Walker and Ms. Pliler.The defendants’ bonds remain at $50,000 except for Ms. Shelden and Ms Pliler. Their bonds were reduced to $10,000 on condition that they observe a 10:30 p.m. curfew and that they reside with their parents.A preliminary hearing is to be conducted next week for tne eighth defendant, Erykah M. Allen, 18, Sar-coxie, whose attorney was out of state Friday.During the hearings for Campbell and Walker, Cifuenies testified thathe was moving to Carthage from Green Forest, Ark. He said he was spending the night at 310 Fulton St. with his sister’s former boyfriend.Cifuenies said he was awakened around midnight when two girls came to the house asking for the driver of the red car and saying they “wanted to make a party.” He said he refused. He said tne girls returned twice — around 2 a.m. and again around 2:30 a.m. with a third girl.The victim said he agreed to go with the girls because the man with whom he was staying wanted to go. He said the group drove to a rural area about 15 minutes from Carthage, with the girls in one car and the two Hispamcs each driving his own car,Cifuenies said the vehicles stopped near a bridge, and one of the girls told him, “I want to make love in the water’’ He said he saw two men on each side of the stream. “I didn’t like that,” he said.Returning to his car, he agreed that one of the girls could drive, he said. He said they drove a short distance before he saw a truck or ieep-type vehicle coming up fast behind them.Cifuenies said his car soon was surrounded, with “about eight guys to one side and five on the other side,” and they opened his door. “I punched one guy and 1 run,” he said.“I told these guys two or three times, ‘What’s wrong? I didn’t do anything to you, and you didn’t do anything to me. Stop, man11 don’t do nothing wrong.’ ”He said the men beat him with baseball bats, and he feigned death. He said the men started to leave but came back to get his wallet. Cifuenies said he could not identify his attackers because they wore some type of hoods over their faces, and that he could not remember how many were involved in the attack.He walked about a mile to a house, and an ambulance was called. Cifuenies said his head and arms sustained the most serious injuries.In testimony during Walker’s hearing, co-defendant Ms. Pliler said he was at the scene with the other men hiding in the weeds along the stream. She said she did not know if he participated in the attack because he was helping her get her car out of a ditch.“I don’t really know who done the beating,” she said.
Newspaper Details
Joplin Globe
Joplin, Missouri, US
Sat, Jul 26, 1997
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Jd C.
NA, 05 Apr 2025
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