A Bay Area teenager will face murder and robbery charges as an adult, a judge ruled on Wednesday, in connection with the death of a Korean American store owner who was pepper sprayed during a robbery in Fairfield, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
James Williamson, 15, of Fairfield will join three 17-year-old boys in adult court to face charges of murder. Prosecutors say Williamson, his brother and two others robbed a store owned by Ho Kim, 70, on June 28.
Kim, the longtime owner of the Travis Dairy on East Travis Boulevard, was affectionately known as Papa by the locals who shopped at his store. The four teenagers confronted him just before 8 p.m. June 28 while a fifth defendant, 18-year-old Chelsea Johnson of Vacaville, waited outside in a car, police said.
Kim was pepper-sprayed and hit before the youths stole the cash register, a video recorder and other items, authorities said. The cash register was later found on a rural road between Fairfield and Vacaville. Kim, a Fairfield resident, was able to call police. He was taken to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield, where he died.
The Solano County coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Kim and said he died “due to emotional distress caused by an assault.”
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