Attorneys delivered opening statements on December 8 in Solano County Superior Court as the jury trial of a Suisun City resident accused of shooting a Fairfield man to death in his driveway got underway. Zavier A. Pigues, 23, has pleaded not guilty of killing Brian Beaufort, 30, at approximately 3 a.m. Oct. 28, 2012, in front of Beaufort’s Oceanic Court home.
The killing followed a night of drinking and clubbing at Pepperbelly’s in downtown Fairfield, the attorneys stated. Beaufort, his girlfriend, Pigues and several other people returned to Beaufort’s home around 2 am to enjoy food and more drinks.
Zavier A Pigues in his 2012 booking photo.
Prosecuting Deputy District Attorney Julie Underwood stated that the evidence recovered by police investigators would show that what happened next would end up in a senseless crime during which Beaufort was slain in cold blood in his own driveway. Amid several boisterous partiers in Beaufort’s kitchen, Pigues “broke a chair and instead of picking it up, kicked it aside,” Underwood said. “At that point something goes very wrong,” Underwood told jurors. Beaufort and Pigues became embroiled in a violent argument that took the two men out into the garage. “It ends with the killing of Brian Beaufort over this chair, over this nonsense,” Underwood concluded.
Pigues’ court appointed defense counsel, Deputy Public Defender Robert Boyle, agreed that the broken chair led to the two men fighting, which became loud enough it woke up neighbors in four different nearby houses, some of whom became witnesses. Pigues got kicked off Beaufort’s property and drove off, tires screeching in the quiet cul-de-sac.
He soon returned. Boyle stated Pigues came back only to retrieve his glasses, knocked off his face during the fight over the broken chair. Pigues did not want to start another fight or seek revenge, Boyle said. After Pigues returned witnesses heard gunfire. Beaufort lay mortally wounded in his driveway. Pigues went on the lam, selling his car a few days later.
He has been held without bail in Solano County Jail since his capture on October 29, 2012 in Pinole.
Records show that just two days before the incident, on October 26, 2012, Pigues had been arrested for DUI, driving with a suspended license, failure to appear in court, and probation violations. There were at least six prior arrests since 2010 in charges of DUI and/or driving with a suspended license, leading to his probationary status.
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