Philadelphia Jury Weighs 2013 'Killed-For-His-Headphones' Murder Case
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jury deliberations are underway in a local story with echoes of the 2009 film The Blind Side, but this one had an horrific ending.
The murder victim in this case was essentially orphaned and moved to a group home for the developmentally delayed when he was about 12.
He thrived, succeeding in school and sports, then was killed at age 21 by a thief who demanded his headphones.
Philadelphia prosecutor Brendan O'Malley told the jury that 21-year-old Christian Massey, whom he called "a gentle giant," bought a prized pair of "Beats by Dr. Dre' headphones on the day after Thanksgiving, 2013, but died the next day when he resisted an armed robber who tried to take them.
O'Malley says the killer is defendant Arkel Garcia. O'Malley told the jury that Garcia, then 20, confessed to taking part in the crime but didn't admit to being the shooter.
But the defense argues that Garcia didn't do it, and wasn't even there -- that he was in his Overbrook home nearby, with family, at the time Massey was killed.