Trial Ordered In Overbrook 'Beats' Headphones Murder
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 20-year-old Philadelphia man has been ordered held for trial in a case the prosecutor calls a local "Blind Side" story, but with a tragic ending.
Defendant Arkel Garcia is charged with killing 21-year-old victim Christian Massey last November in Overbrook for his coveted "Beats by Dr. Dre" headphones (see previous story).
"The headphones that Mr. Massey purchased on Black Friday (got him) killed Saturday," Philadelphia prosecutor Brendan O'Malley told KYW Newsradio today. "Black Friday he purchases these headphones; they were recovered on the ground. Clearly from the statement, there was a struggle. Mr. Garcia says there was a struggle out there for the headphones, so believing that Mr. Massey fought for his life did not allow Mr. Garcia to get the headphones."
In an alleged statement to police, Garcia put himself at the scene but said another man did the shooting. Defense attorney Josh Scarpello now says Garcia contends he wasn't there and wasn't involved in the case at all.
O'Malley, the prosecutor, says the victim, reminiscent of the 2009 movie The Blind Side, had been taken from his home at age 11 but had thrived after that, and was a successful athlete planning on college when he was killed.
