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Devin McNew, 27. Special to The Bee <\/p>\nThe Fresno man accused of killing his friend with a knife and garden shovel agreed to a plea deal Friday, one day after video of the vicious attack was shown in court.<\/p>\n
Jonathan David Navarro, 28, pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree murder plus an enhancement for using a knife. In exchange, prosecutor Elana Smith reduced the murder charge from first degree to second degree and dropped two additional charges.<\/p>\n
The plea deal means Navarro\u2019s maximum prison sentence drops from 25-years-to-life to 16-years-to-life. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 10.<\/p>\n
At the close of his preliminary hearing on Thursday, Judge Houry Sanderson advised Navarro to give serious consideration to whether he should pursue a trial by jury, given the weight of the evidence against him.<\/p>\n
Sanderson was referring to graphic video footage captured by a doorbell camera showing the July 29, 2024, attack by Navarro against his ex-girlfriend Brianna Marquez and her new boyfriend Devin McNew, 27.<\/p>\n
Devin McNew, 27. Special to The Bee <\/p>\n
Video clips show a chaotic scene with Navarro striking a screaming Marquez several times with the shovel as she stood in a driveway between two parked trucks. Marquez testified Thursday that it took seven staples to close the wound in her head. She also suffered gashes to her arms and leg.<\/p>\n
The video also shows Navarro on top of McNew striking him with the shovel. Another clip shows Navarro going into the southeast Fresno home to grab a knife that he used to stab McNew.<\/p>\n
McNew\u2019s mother Joy Lang McNew was at Friday\u2019s hearing. She began to cry when Navarro pleaded \u201cno contest\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said both men grew up together and went to the same high school, McLane.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Navarro) used to call me mom when he was younger,\u201d she said after the hearing. \u201cIt is so hard to see your son\u2019s childhood friend sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described her son as someone with a big personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Devin was in the room, you knew it,\u201d she said. \u201cYou either wanted to get out of the room because he annoyed you, or you wanted to go hang out and see what he was going to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her son was in the Army National Guard and served a nine-month mission in Poland that changed the trajectory of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came back, he was ready to start a life, and he was ready to start a life with her (Marquez),\u201d she said. \u201cHe was changing and reflecting. He went to school and got his trucking certificate. He had a career and a path lined out, and he had his love.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNew doesn\u2019t know what prompted the fight between her son and his friend.<\/p>\n
According to court testimony, Navarro and Marquez had recently broken up after a 10-year relationship. They also had a child together.<\/p>\n
Although they had been friends for more than a decade, Marquez began a romantic relationship with McNew after she and Navarro split.<\/p>\n
During her testimony, Marquez said Navarro did not take the break-up well and would often drive by her apartment or leave items on her balcony. To get him to stop, she agreed to have sex with him, she testified.<\/p>\n
She told McNew about it and he was upset. But he understood why she did it, she testified.<\/p>\n
Navarro, however, didn\u2019t know she was dating McNew. That secret may have been revealed on July 29, 2024, when Marquez and McNew were dropping off some of Navarro\u2019s furniture to his southeast Fresno home near East Balch and South Callisch avenues.<\/p>\n
That day McNew and Navarro were unloading furniture from McNew\u2019s truck into the garage when Marquez heard a commotion.<\/p>\n
The two men began fighting. Navarro gained the upper hand after grabbing a shovel and knife and using it against McNew, who died at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Scott Baly, who along with attorney Margarita Martinez-Baly defended Navarro, said after the hearing that he doesn\u2019t know what triggered the violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if he were to testify, he would say something. He would say that yeah, \u2018I didn\u2019t know, and he made a comment to me,\u2019 \u201d Baly said. \u201cWe do know that Devin was ready to fight. Marquez testified to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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