Three men plead not guilty in shooting of 16-year-old in Watts

By Nicole Santa Cruz

Three men have pleaded not guilty in last month’s shooting death of a 16-year-old high school football player in Watts, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Donald Ray Byrd IV, 20, Vernon Taron Warren III, 19, and Dameon Dakwon Jackson III, 21, entered pleas Monday in a Compton courtroom, according to prosecutors. 

Byrd, Warren and Jackson, all black men, are each charged with murder in the Sept. 27 shooting death of Elijah Galbreath.

That afternoon, Galbreath was walking west on East 103rd Street in Watts when he was shot.

The three men are due back in court Nov. 5.