The downtown San Diego murder case against a 37-year-old defendant is on hold for almost two more months after a judge agreed to push back a key hearing to May 7. The defense attorney is tied up in a separate murder trial, and until that wraps up, some of the most basic questions in this case will stay unanswered while the defendant waits in custody.
Court appearance and delay
During a brief San Diego Superior Court appearance, the defendant, Brian Keith Tyner Jr., pleaded not guilty and agreed to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, according to the Times of San Diego. Another attorney appeared last Wednesday in place of Tyner’s lawyer, Oscar Valencia, because Valencia was in trial on another case, and the prosecutor did not object to the stand-in, the outlet reported.
Where the shooting happened
Tyner is accused of fatally shooting 46-year-old Antwan Eugene Bluthenthal inside a third-floor unit in a building at G Street and Sixth Avenue. Bluthenthal, a respiratory technician at the Veterans Administration hospital and father of an infant daughter, had been at the Cielo Rooftop Lounge earlier in the night, as had Tyner. A comedy club in the same building was closed at the time. “The motive in the homicide has not been stated in court,” according to the Times of San Diego.
Victim and custody
Family members and a friend of Bluthenthal told reporters they did not know Tyner, and authorities have not released any information about a motive. Tyner is being held without bail at the George Bailey Detention Facility, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
What a preliminary hearing does
The May 7 preliminary hearing is expected to give a judge the first real look at the evidence, including witness testimony, and to decide whether there is probable cause to send the case to trial under California law. Information about court calendars and how hearings are set is available from the San Diego Superior Court.
So far, investigators and prosecutors have not publicly discussed a motive, and the case now effectively waits for its next procedural step on May 7. This story will be updated as new court filings or official statements are released.
