The attorneys are going over the motions in limine – the ground rules over which evidence the jury gets to see – and the jury has not been assembled to determine whether or not Devon Cathey fatally shot 33-year-old Nicklas Sellars in his tent on Oct. 18, 2022.
Today,
a Humboldt County jury convicted 31-year-old Jake Henry Combs of
first degree murder for the January 6, 2022 killing of 25-year-old
Trevor John Earley of Alderpoint. Additionally, the jury found Combs
intentionally discharged a firearm, causing Earley’s death. Combs
faces 50 years to l
During closing arguments, one of Combs' attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Emery Welton, explained why he believed the jury should find his client was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot 25-year-old Trevor Earley in the small hours of Jan. 6, 2022, but if they disagreed, they should find him guilty of manslaughter, a lesser offense. The jury, which took roughly a day to deliberate after over a week of witness testimony – including from Combs himself – was clearly unconvinced, finding Combs guilty of first-degree murder, exposing him to a 25-year to life sentence. However, because the jury also found Combs guilty of using a gun to kill Earley, he could see another ten, 20 or 25-to life enhancement.
Deputy Public Defender Emery Welton, one of Jake Combs’ – who fatally shot 25-year-old Trevor Earley in Alderpoint in the wee hours of Jan. 6, 2022 – defense attorneys told the jury that his client acted in self-defense, but he considered voluntary manslaughter another reasonable conclusion. Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm disagreed, asserting that Combs committed an unambiguous act of first-degree murder.