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The night Otto Emil Koloto allegedly shot and killed Philip Lacy, 27, outside the Palo Alto Police station may have been the first time the 23-year-old ever carried a gun, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing Monday.
Koloto and his friend, Donald Robert Lee, face one count of homicide. Koloto also faces an enhancement for use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Koloto is accused of being the shooter during the course of a robbery; Lee allegedly drove the car in which Koloto fled.
The preliminary hearing, which took place Monday and Tuesday in the North County Courthouse in Palo Alto, was to determine if there is enough to support the charges.
On the night of July 12, 2008, Koloto approached Lacy and his friends as they sat in a car next to Palo Alto City Hall. Koloto asked for a cigarette, then allegedly pointed a gun at Lacy. Koloto demanded a gold-chain necklace with a diamond-encrusted crucifix that Lacy was wearing. Lacy handed the chain to Koloto, then almost immediately lunged at Koloto, spreading his arms toward Koloto’s waist to tackle him, Kenneth Walker, a friend of Lacy’s, testified.
Koloto shot Lacy in the head point-blank during the lunge, Walker testified.
“I guess his head made contact with the pistol,” Walker said.
Palo Alto detective Sgt. Scott Wong testified that he was approached at the station the next day by Koloto’s cousin, Supileo Faasolo, about the shooting. Reading from his police report written at the time, Wong said Faasolo told him Koloto and Donald Robert Lee, a friend of Koloto’s who is also being charged in the case, were sleeping at Faasolo’s father’s home in East Palo Alto that next morning. Faasolo told Wong he saw Koloto cutting off his hair in the back yard.
Faasolo asked Koloto what he was doing, and Koloto said he had shot someone the night before, Wong read from the report. Faasolo said he thought Koloto was kidding, Wong reported.
“I said, ‘Stop playing. When did you ever carry a gun?’ Otto said he just had the gun for that night,” Wong quoted Faasolo as saying.
Faasolo said Koloto almost broke down crying. He said he did not mean to pull the trigger it was just a reaction, Wong reported.
Faasolo told Wong he went into the house and spoke with Lee, who said he guessed Koloto shot someone. Lee allegedly told Faasolo that he had stopped the car by a curb and Koloto got out, telling lee to wait. Lee said he did not know what Koloto was doing and Koloto only told him about the shooting sometime after he returned to the car, according to Faasolo’s report to police.
Faasolo said he spoke to Koloto by phone one more time and told him to turn himself in to police, since the family had gotten money together for an attorney. But Koloto feared the phone was tapped. That was the last time he heard from Koloto, Faasolo told Wong.
Walker said Lacy and friends were at the Blue Chalk Cafe late that night but they did not have any contact with Koloto or see him there.
Mua Huhane, Koloto’s mother, testified that Koloto and Lee told her they were going to San Jose around 10:30 p.m. But Faasolo told police Koloto and Lee came to his parents’ residence about 11:30 or midnight and said they were going to the Blue Chalk Cafe.
Huhane cried on the witness stand throughout the proceeding and said it was not unusual for her to not know of her son’s whereabouts — sometimes he stayed with Lee or at his uncle’s house — but she could usually reach him when she needed him by phone, she said.
The morning after the shooting, when Koloto didn’t return home and she could not contact him, she contacted Lee, who told here the two men had split up and gone separate ways after they reached Palo Alto. He said he did not know where Koloto was, she said. She did not hear from her son again until police notified her that he was in custody. She said she spoke to him by phone.
“I was crying. He said, ‘Don’t cry, Mom,'” she testified.
Faasolo was sworn in to testify on Tuesday, but Koloto’s defense attorney, Andy Gutierrez, objected because Faasolo could incriminate himself as an accessory after the fact. Faasolo had told police he helped Koloto cut off his hair.
Faasolo will return to the hearing with legal counsel on Tuesday to testify or take his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
So I guess the point is: the real villains here are the schools, county, city and state who did not offer this young man easy to take courses on gun ownership so that he would know what to do and not do with his new gun.
Maybe lawsuits are in order for ruining his life.
The problem is this: guns and bullets. Why and how did these weapons get in his posession? Guns in any neighborhood is more like a problem than a solution. We need gun control if not that then bullet control!
Marina, the problem is not gun control. I do not own a gun, so I am not defending the right to bear arms, but this fellow did not buy his gun through a gun dealer which requires a wait period and recording the gun serial number. He got his gun the way other criminals get their guns, illegally.
This might be how it came down. But personally I am very SKEPTICAL that this was the first time he ever had any gun in his hand. What “carrying” one means I suppose is that you and the gun go out for “a date”. And of what relevance is it anyway?
I think the defense knows the eventual verdict will probably be “guilty” and is doing the PR spin early. First time he ever kissed a gun and he got the clap. Remorse, etc.
Could all be true but for the jury and the court to decide anyway. Not public opinion. But in the real world juries and the court get swayed by public opinion.
According to the story he used a gun, pointed it at the victim, demanded and got an item. Then followed through with deadly force.
If it were a fake gun and he stepped back, the victim lunging and then falling forward and hitting his head with a fatal outcome….as the perp screamed “no please I was just kidding, we’re filming a video and wanted realism”…that would be another thing.
You can not blame the schools, city, county or state. The only person to blame is Koloto himself!! He chose to carry a gun, a loaded gun and to carry out such a crime because he couldn’t get a job and support himself to pay for the things that he chose to take from others. I feel bad for his family to be put throught this but more sorrowful for Phil’s family and friends. They are the one’s who will never be able to be with Phil again. This artilce where is says Koloto almost broke down and cried. How about all the ones that cried over Phil being MURDERED. Koloto deserve’s nothing but the worst punishment possible. These offences make me sick! Some people think that it is acceptable and ok to take others possessions. This possession of Phil’s was very special and symbolized something more then just wearing a flashy piece of jewerly.
RIP PHIL: We will always remember and cherish the times we all spent in such a short life
It matters if this was his first time with a gun? He was up to no good – with a gun.
He is not less guilty of a crime if this was his first time carrying a gun.
Robbing someone of their valuables is not less of a crime if you are a novice.
It is not less of a crime without a gun.
It is more dangerous when someone inexperienced with their own emotional responses to carry a loaded cocked gun.
Stealing is only less of a crime if you do not kill someone in the process.
He set it up to be easy to kill someone. Tough to face a mistake like that.
It almost made him cry.
Why did he have a gun that night and where did he get it from?
And how is the source of the weapon not not brought into question here?
Where does responsibility fall?
Isn’t part of the responsibility in owning a gun that it will not get into other’s hands?
And what was he intending to do that night?
Intimidate a few people into handing over their valuables, expecting no one would confront him if he had a weapon?
Hmmm
One wonders.
Inadvertently killing someone is a sad way to gain a free meal ticket and an unpleasant yet state funded permanent contained place to live: enjoy your stay.
Terrible mistakes can be avoided by mental clarity, more consciousness and alignment with good intentions.
Mental clarity often kicks in when people mature and refrain from using mind altering substances, including adrenaline. It also helps to find passionate dedications that are life affirming and fulfilling instead of destructive means to an end.
“this fellow did not buy his gun through a gun dealer which requires a wait period and recording the gun serial number. He got his gun the way other criminals get their guns, illegally.”
Criminals get guns if they want to. Librals and there gun laws just take business away from honest gun shops.
The story from what we heard is not very clear I do feel that we lost a life in this case that we won’t bring him back. We continue to find out what real story was because the witnesses were not telling the true story what had happen that night. I hope that someone can explain to me if someone point a gun at me and I launch at him I can figure that out.
Gun control is a joke, there are more guns in this country then people, with tax dollars running out and our state beaches on the verge of closing down, gun control is the last thing we need to be focused on. Gun control and the whole gun debate is often times “talked about” and “money is spent” by those who do not know what they are talking about. I’m all for gun control within reason and with responsible educated individuals making the decisions. What we have is uneducated individuals (On the Matter) making decisions that affect us all. I say we train every man, woman and child how to use a firearm, because the stats are high for accidental deaths, such as this one (potentially) lets not give the lawyers, and sacramento more of our money to waste. If you pick up a gun and shoot someone that is your choice and you should pay for it, i just want to make sure everyone who picks one up knows how to use it, therefore there is no “grey” area like this case that is going to end up costing the system more then we have right now.
I don’t really care now often the guy carried a gun or if he just picked it up off the street or someone gave it to him – so what. We all know what guns do from a very young age. Why was this even printed?
Why was he carrying a gun? Why did he use it on Phillip Lacy? I’ve been led to believe it was for financial gain, Lacy was robbed and fought back.
Koloto, and whoever was with him started a series of events that led them to the point where the murdered someone who was defending their person and property. As far as I am concerned, anyone going along with Koloto to or from the scene is just as guilty and deserving of the same punishment.
And by the way forget trying to make every damn thing out to be about gun control … go start your own comment board on gun control and let this board be about a cold blooded robbery/murder.
this is a stupid headline. really Palo Alto Online???