A second suspect in the gruesome slaying of Hoopa resident Julius “Jules” Tripp must stand trial on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, Judge Kaleb Cockrum ruled today.

Cockrum, after listening to evidence presented during a two-day preliminary hearing, held 20-year-old Daniel Armendariz to answer on all charges. His arraignment is set for April 19.

Tripp, 42, was homeless and sleeping in a camper off Highway 96 on July 20, 2020. After a roadside confrontation with Bronson Moon Lewis Jr., Lewis allegedly stabbed Tripp multiple times and left him lying down a steep, wooded slope between Hoopa and Weitchpec.

Then Lewis and four companions drove south to Hoopa, where Lewis got a rifle and returned to the scene.

According to witness statements Tripp was still alive. He could be heard breathing heavily and screaming “You guys are going down for attempted murder!”

Then witnesses heard gunshots.

Although Lewis is charged with stabbing and shooting Tripp, Armendariz allegedly was by his side during the entire episode. Armendariz reportedly got a pocket knife out of Lewis’s truck when Lewis and Tripp were fighting, and he may have handed Lewis the machete that was used on Tripp. He also went with Lewis when he got the rifle from a residence in Hoopa.

Also, Cockrum noted when making his ruling this morning, Armendariz reportedly told Lewis after the killing that they were in this together.

“Don’t worry about it,” Armendariz allegedly said. “If you go down for murder I go down. We’re in this together.”

Armendariz, interviewed by sheriff’s Investigator Mark Peterson after the killing, denied involvement and pointed the finger at Dale Mabry, who was driving Lewis’s truck when they came upon Tripp’s camper in a pullout. Armendariz said Mabry was the one who was with Lewis when Tripp was killed.

Cockrum said both Armendariz and Mabry made “self-serving statements” about their roles. Mabry was the driver, he was the one who decided to bump Tripp’s camper with Lewis’s truck, and he used the truck to push Tripp’s old pickup and camper over a cliff. Also, when Lewis told Mabry to stop the truck and turn around after Tripp threw a tire rim at them, Mabry obeyed.

“I do believe Mr. Mabry has some criminal liability in this case,” the judge said.

As to Armendariz, there was testimony he was the one who said Tripp needed to be “finished off.” And at least one witness said Armendariz joined in when Lewis was threatening his companions with death if anyone talked about what they saw.

Dale Mabry was called as a witness during this hearing but refused to testify, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But another Mabry, Milton Mabry, testified via Zoom this morning that he spoke with Bronson Lewis five days after the killing.

“He pretty much told me what he did,” Milton Mabry said. “Chopped (Tripp) up and then went and got a gun and shot him.”

Asked whether Lewis said he was alone at the time, Milton Mabry responded “He didn’t say.”

In arguing Armendariz should be held to answer for murder, Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm said Armendariz got out of the truck with Lewis after they encountered Tripp, and both he and Lewis obtained knives.

“He was out there when Mr. Lewis mutilated Mr. Tripp’s body with a sharp object,” Timm told the judge. “We don’t know if it was one or the other, or both of them.”

Witnesses could see “swinging motions” from where they were parked up on Highway 96, but they couldn’t see who was swinging.

Defense attorney Meagan O’Connell argued it was Lewis who retrieved a machete from his truck and Lewis who used the machete to attack Tripp.

“There’s no indication the pocket knife was used,” she said, noting witnesses saw blood on Lewis and his machete, but no blood on Armendariz.

“There’s no evidence that any action on the part of Mr. Armendariz actually caused Mr. Tripp’s death,” O’Connell argued, saying the prosecution needed to prove Armendariz had the intent to kill.

It was witness K-lynn Dowd who said she heard Armendariz speak about finishing Tripp off. But O’Connell noted Dowd said she wasn’t paying close attention to Armendariz, and “there is a possibility that someone else made that statement.”

O’Connell also said it could be argued the killing was justified, as Tripp was much older than Lewis and he had thrown a tire rim and a rock at Lewis’s truck. Armendariz could have been protecting Lewis, himself and others, she said.

Timm said the idea of Armendariz protecting others from Tripp “is — quite frankly — ridiculous and insulting.”

Lewis, then 18, turned himself in on Aug. 25 after witnesses implicated him in the killing and Tripp’s remains were found. Deputy Coroner Chad Zeck testified he saw a skull, arm bones, leg bones and a patch of skin. The skin was tattooed, Zeck said, and he could make out the words Tripp, Yurok, hostile, and Native.

A forensic pathologist determined Tripp suffered “sharp-force trauma” to his arms and the back of his head, and he was possibly shot as well.

Armendariz was not arrested until November 2020, after testimony implicating him was presented during Lewis’s preliminary hearing.

Both Armendariz and Lewis remain in Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where Lewis celebrated his 20th birthday today. His trial is scheduled for later this month.

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