Prosecutors say jealousy led to Paso Robles man’s murder

October 8, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A Shandon man allegedly stabbed to death a Paso Robles man at a 2019 party, in part, because of jealousy over a woman. [Tribune]

The alleged murder was then followed by the killing of a witness to the fatal stabbing. Nonetheless, the trial for the initial murder began Thursday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.

On June 1, 2019, during a party at a home in Shandon, Kejuan Guy Bynum, now 29, allegedly initiated a fight with 23-year-old Christopher Vento Wilson of Paso Robles. Bynum allegedly stabbed Wilson multiple times during the fight. Wilson died of his injuries at the hospital.

In Dec. 2019, Wilson’s friend, Trevon Perry, testified for the prosecution at a preliminary hearing in the Wilson murder case. On March 16, 2020, before a trial date was set in the case, Perry’s family reported him missing.

On June 18, 2020, investigators found Perry’s body at a home in Riverside. Detectives later arrested Nicholas Ron, 23, of Paso Robles for Perry’s murder, and officers arrested several other suspects on accessory to murder charges. Ron allegedly shot Perry at point-blank range.

In the case of Wilson’s killing, Bynum is charged with murder and use of a knife in the homicide. Bynum’s trial began Thursday, and the woman over whom he was allegedly motivated to kill Wilson testified in court.

Amanda Portney of Shandon testified that Bynum was jealous and obsessed with her. Weeks prior to the fatal fight, Bynum moved into her home against her wishes, prompting Portney to change her residence.

Wilson was a close friend of hers with whom she had previously been involved romantically, Portney said.

During the 2019 party, Wilson tossed Portney onto a bed in a manner that was meant to be playful. Bynum saw Wilson do so, Portney said.

With a bottle of liquor in his hand, Bynum told Wilson to come outside, and the fight began. Portney tried to break up the fight but did not succeed.

The prosecution showed photos indicating Wilson had been stabbed in the chest, shoulder and above his left eye. Additionally, in a tapped phone call, Bynum told his mother, “I done stabbed that n—– three to four times,” prosecutors say.

Bynum’s attorney, Scott Taylor, argued in his opening statement that the murder case lacks a motive, and the jury must take into account the intoxication of multiple individuals who attended the party, including his client.