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Man who fatally shot a cyclist convicted of first-degree murder
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A jury deliberated less than a day Friday before convicting Breon Kindred in the 2020 fatal shooting of a man riding a bicycle on Pennsylvania SE near Zuni.
Kindred, 30, was convicted of first-degree murder in the June 27, 2020, killing of 29-year-old Lavon King. Kindred faces a minimum of 30 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
His sentencing hearing before 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Clara Moran has not been scheduled.
Jurors apparently rejected the argument of Kindred鈥檚 attorney, who told jurors that Kindred fired in self defense when he observed King reaching for a gun holstered on his left hip.
Prosecutors repeatedly showed jurors security video they said showed Kindred riding up behind King on a motor scooter carrying a gun in the moments before the shooting.
鈥淵ou will see he sped alongside King, coming up from behind,鈥� prosecutor Lawrence Hansen told jurors this week.
The scooter crashed in the street and Kindred fell to the pavement, Hansen said. Then Kindred 鈥渏umps back up and fires rounds into King,鈥� Hansen said. 鈥淜ing drops to the ground, mortally wounded, and (Kindred) rides the bicycle away.鈥�
The video also shows that Kindred later returned to the scene and retrieved his scooter as a witness called 911 to report the shooting, Hansen said.
Kindred鈥檚 attorney, Nicholas Hart, told jurors that Kindred believed King was riding a bicycle he had stolen from Kindred.
Hart argued that Kindred had only seconds to make life-and-death decisions and chose to protect himself and his wife, who was riding behind him on another scooter.
After Kindred fell from his scooter, he faced the choice of either protecting himself or running from King, who he knew was armed and dangerous. Hart said Kindred fired in self defense when he saw King reach for a pistol.
Prosecutors argued that King never drew his pistol, nor does the video show King reaching for his pistol.
Kindred鈥檚 wife, Davon Pritchett, 30, pleaded no contest in April to one misdemeanor count of attempt to commit aggravated assault and faces up to one year of probation, court records show. Her sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
The couple were arrested by Utah authorities in January 2022, about a year and a half after King鈥檚 death.
