No deal reached in Ashley Benton murder trial

Friday, July 13, 2007

(7/13/07 - HOUSTON) -- A 17-year-old girl accused of fatally stabbing a member of the notorious MS-13 gang during a brawl in a city park last year rejected a plea agreement Friday and now faces another trial after the first ended in a hung jury.

"Reject it," Ashley Benton told state District Judge Devon Anderson during a court hearing Friday after the teen was asked if she was going to accept or refuse a plea agreement offered by prosecutors.

Anderson declared a mistrial two weeks ago after a jury failed to reach a verdict in three days of deliberations.

Jury selection in the retrial was set for Jan. 4. Benton faces a sentence ranging from probation to life in prison if convicted of murder.

Prosecutors say Benton murdered MS-13 gang member Gabriel Granillo by plunging a double-bladed knife into the 15-year-old's heart during a June 2006 gang fight.

She was 16 when she stabbed Granillo, but was certified to stand trial as an adult.

Benton's attorneys, who have portrayed her as a scared girl caught up in gang violence, said she stabbed Granillo while trying to protect herself after he swung a bat at her during a brawl between MS-13 and the gang Crazy Crew.

Benton has said she wasn't a part of Crazy Crew, but was friends with several members.

"It's a case of self-defense, pure and simple," defense attorney Kent Schaffer told reporters after his client rejected the plea agreement in court following a couple of days of intense negotiations with prosecutors.

Schaffer would not discuss details of the plea prosecutors had offered his client. Schaffer had previously said he would not accept any deal that required Benton to be sent to prison.

"We felt we could do better at" retrial, Schaffer said.

Prosecutors contend Granillo was running away from the fight when he was stabbed by Benton.

Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal planned to comment later Friday.

During the weeklong trial, extra security personnel were brought into the courtroom. Schaffer said his client, who is under house arrest at a relative's home, is still concerned about her safety and retaliation from MS-13 gang members.

Authorities say Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, one of the largest Latino youth gangs in the country, was started by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The gang is particularly violent, known for beheading enemies and staging attacks with grenades and machetes.

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