A hefty gambling debt led to the 2009 confrontation in a restaurant just off the 16th Street Mall that left one man dead and the proprietor accused of murder in the first degree, jurors heard Tuesday morning.
Restaurateur Yan “Dave” De Yang, 41, owed “thousands and thousands” to an acquaintance of the victim and another man dispatched that Thursday afternoon to Chopsticks & Sushi to collect a $500 weekly payment, according to Yang’s attorney
By the time the fight was over, Lloyd Running Bear not only had three bullet holes in his stomach but had taken two very close-range shots in the back, prosecutors said in opening statements aimed at countering Yang’s self-defense claim. They said the shots to the back killed Running Bear.
Defense attorney Jud Lohnes said Running Bear was choking the diminutive Yang when he fired the first shots at a man who towered over him.
“He had to make a split-second decision,” Lohnes said. “All he could see was Lloyd Running Bear’s chest in front of him. He fired five times in rapid succession. It was a human response based on adrenaline and fear.”
The shooting was the latest in a series of confrontations stemming from Yang’s bad football bets.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
