Luis Ernesto Rosas, 19, of Moreno Valley, was arrested Monday following a two-week investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department into the slaying of Ronald Gargano.

Along with murder, Rosas was charged with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

The defendant, who is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Kelleher, on the morning of Jan. 18, Gargano was in the area of Foothill Avenue and Nuevo Road, just east of Perris, when he was assaulted by a then-unknown person for reasons not disclosed.

The victim was stabbed and left for dead.

Kelleher said witnesses discovered Gargano’s remains not long afterward, and when patrol deputies confirmed the nature of the man’s death, the case was turned over to the Central Homicide Unit, whose detectives ultimately uncovered evidence pointing to Rosas as the alleged assailant.

A possible motive was not disclosed.

The defendant was tracked down and taken into custody without incident on Dracaea Avenue in Moreno Valley.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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The girls’ family confronted BlackhorseGarcia after he dropped off the 15-year-old at her home on Feb. 2 in the 1500 block of Gregg Place, Riverside police said. As the family approached him, BlackhorseGarcia sped away and struck the pregnant 16-year-old, according to authorities.

Police responded around 11:45 p.m. and found the severely injured pregnant teen. She was taken to a hospital, where she later died.

TV station KTLA identified the teen victim as Kaylie Corona and reported that medical staff were able to deliver her baby, a girl, who remains in critical condition.

“Our girl was more than just a teenager — she was a radiant light in our lives,” her family wrote in a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral costs and medical bills for the baby.

“The grief we feel is indescribable, and the void she leaves behind is immeasurable,” her family said. “In addition to losing our sweet girl, we are now facing the urgent medical needs of her baby, who is fighting for her life.”

Authorities found BlackhorseGarcia’s vehicle in Moreno Valley and arrested him on Feb. 3. He has not entered a plea, according to court records, and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear back in court on April 14.

Detectives believe BlackhorseGarcia may have contacted and sexually abused other minors. Anyone with information about the case or who may have been victimized by the suspect should call Riverside police Det. Stanley Hua at (951) 353-7135 or SHua@RiversideCA.gov, or Det. Nic Cantino at (951) 353-7104 or NCantino@RiversideCA.gov.

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A Jan. 10 trial date was scheduled Friday for a 23- year-old probationer accused of fatally beating a Riverside senior after breaking into her home.

Sixto Jesus Garcia Pena of Palm Springs was arrested in 2021 following a Riverside Police Department investigation into the slaying of 78-year-old Denise Irene Wong.

Pena is charged with first-degree murder, as well as special- circumstance allegations of killing in the commission of a robbery, killing in the commission of a burglary and inflicting torture.

Prosecutors intend to seek capital punishment if the defendant is convicted.

During a status hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding future proceedings, and both sides agreed to be prepared to move forward with trial at the beginning of next year.

An intervening hearing is set for Oct. 25 to confirm everything is on track.

Pena is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

Pena was located in mid-January 2021 at the Imperial County Jail, where he was awaiting adjudication of an unrelated attempted vehicle theft case, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Riverside police detectives served an arrest warrant there, then transferred him to the downtown Riverside jail.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, Pena allegedly killed Wong in her single-story house in the 1200 block of East Manfield Street, near Masters Avenue, on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Denise was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, friend and a good and kind person,” police Chief Larry Gonzalez said after Pena’s arrest.

The victim had been a resident of the city for five decades.

Patrol officers were called to her home that evening after her loved ones requested a welfare check because she hadn’t responded to phone calls. She was found dead from injuries inflicted a few hours earlier, Railsback said.

He alleged Pena accessed the residence by breaking a rear window.

“Officers observed some items … out of place and consistent with a burglary,” the police spokesman said, adding that the victim’s car had been stolen.

Detectives confirmed the sedan was involved in a hit-and-run collision in Indio a few hours after the alleged break-in.

Indio police impounded the abandoned vehicle, and homicide investigators went to the impound yard, collecting evidence from the car that helped them identify Pena as the alleged assailant, Railsback said.

Three days later, with the help of the county’s Gang Impact Team, they confirmed Pena had been arrested in Imperial County, and arrangements were made for his transfer.

According to court records, Pena has prior convictions for child abuse, auto theft and receiving stolen property.

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Christopher Jacob Lennox, 27, of Riverside was arrested Sunday following a Riverside Police Department investigation.

Along with murder, Lennox is charged with attempted murder, domestic violence and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

The defendant, who is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

He allegedly killed Robert Joe Mageno of Riverside around noon on Easter Sunday in the 7600 block of Canberra Way, near Trautwein Road, in the Mission Grove quarter.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, the attack happened during an unspecified argument between Lennox and his girlfriend, identified in court documents only as “L.G.,” at the defendant’s residence, where several people leased rooms, including Mageno.

“The suspect retrieved a handgun and shot his girlfriend,” Railsback said. “When she fled the room, Mageno appeared from his room, and the suspect shot him. The girlfriend was able to flee across the street after the shooting.”

Witnesses called police, and patrol officers converged on the location, locating L.G. wounded but conscious. She was taken to a Riverside hospital, where she remains in critical condition, according to Railsback.

Mageno was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Officers took Lennox into custody without incident.

“They located a handgun inside the home … believed to have been used in the shooting,” the police spokesman said.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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Black women in the U.S were, on average, six times more likely to be murdered than their white peers for the years 1999 through 2020, according to an analysis of racial disparities in U.S. homicide rates to be released by Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. It also indicates that Black women are more likely than white women to be killed by guns. The study is the first to analyze homicide trends spanning two decades among women aged 25 to 44—the ages when women are most likely to be murdered. The findings are published in The Lancet(link is external and opens in a new window).

It is well known that homicide rates among Black women in the US are disproportionately high compared to white women, and that Black women tend to be murdered at younger ages and at higher rates than other women of color in the US, including Native American and Alaska Native women. Despite this, data on the disparities remains limited.

“As a scholar whose research examines intimate partner violence, I have long known that there were disparities in homicide rates between Black and white women. To uncover the fact that Black women are murdered at rates as high as 20 to 1 is heart-breaking and underscores the urgent need to make substantive structural shifts,” says Dr. Bernadine Waller, lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow in the Psychiatry Department at Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a dual appointment at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The study findings also show that:

• Homicide rates among Black women were significantly higher than for white women in all 30 states analyzed, with the biggest differences in states with the highest racial inequities.
• The greatest disparity in homicide rates was in Wisconsin in 2019-2020, when Black women were 20 times more likely to be murdered than white women.
• Black women in the U.S. were more likely than white women to be killed by a firearm, particularly those in the Northeast and Midwest.

The evidence suggests a strong link exists between higher homicide rates and the effects of deeply entrenched racial inequities—which manifest through factors such as educational attainment, unemployment, and wealth distribution—across the U.S. This suggests that measures to reduce structural racism in the U.S could help prevent elevated rates of homicide among Black women. Understanding how disparities in homicide rates change over time at state and regional level may help identify areas where intervention is needed most.

The authors used CDC WONDER public health data to carry out a cross-sectional analysis of homicide death rates for Black and white women in the U.S. between 1999 and 2020. The analysis focused on women aged 25-44 years in the 30 states with enough homicides (more than nine in any year) for analysis.

Results were produced for five time periods: 1999-2003; 2004-2008; 2009-2013; 2014-2018; and 2019-2020. The method of homicide was analyzed for four U.S. regions: South, Midwest, West, and Northeast.

The findings indicate Black women in the U.S. consistently had higher homicide rates compared to white women between 1999 and 2020. The overall homicide rate among Black women in 2020 was 11.6 per 100,000 population, compared with 3 per 100,000 among white women. This was virtually unchanged from 1999, when the rate among Black women was 11.6 per 100,000 compared to 2.9 per 100,000 in white women. While disparities in homicide rates fell between 1999 and 2013—due to a decrease in homicide rates in Black women—they increased from 2013 to 2020. At the state level, there were differences in how disparities in homicide rates decreased or increased between 1999 and 2020.

Homicide rates among Black women were higher than their white peers during all periods in every state analyzed. While the greatest inequities in homicide rates were in Wisconsin in 2019-2020, when Black women were twenty times more likely to be murdered than white women, the greatest disparities overall, were in the Midwest, where Black women in 2020 were over seven times more likely to be murdered than white women.

Notably, states with the greatest disparities in homicide rates were in parts of the country with a high proportion of people of low socioeconomic status living close together. These areas also tend to have histories of slavery and lynching, and are places where especially tense Black Lives Matter protests took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our findings indicate that the greatest inequities are in the areas of the country where concentrated disadvantage is pronounced. Thus, focusing on historical structural racism’s long-lasting legacy in the U.S. is imperative. Efforts aimed at reducing disproportionate homicide deaths among Black women can be implemented through addressing the role of structural racism when it comes to policies and practices that increase Black women’s risk and lessen Black women’s access to much needed resources,” said Victoria A. Joseph, a co-author of the paper and a data analyst in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Gun deaths among Black and white women in the US increased, with women in general more than twice as likely (odds of 2.44) to be killed by firearms in 2019-2020 compared to 1999-2003. However, Black women were more likely than white women to be killed by a firearm (odds of 1.38).

The odds of gun deaths among Black women increased over time compared to white women. In 2020, Black women in the Northeast were three times more likely than white women (odds of 3.02) to be killed by a firearm, while firearm homicides among Black women in the Midwest were more than six times higher (odds of 6.31) than among white women. In the South, Black women were around one and a half times (odds of ~1.5) more likely to be killed by a firearm. The West’s sample size was too small to be included in this part of the analysis.

“Available data indicate that homicides in the US continued to escalate in many areas of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also intersected with widespread national protests after the murder of George Floyd. These trends reflect systems that have long disserviced communities of color, and underscore that sustained investment and vision to support underserved communities are critical to reverse racial injustices that impact health and wellbeing.” said Katherine Keyes, senior author of the paper and professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health, grants L30 MH131137 and T32MH096724.

*Data on the 30 individual states included in the analysis can be found in Table 1 in the Article.*

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors charged a man Monday with four counts of murder in the fatal shootings of three homeless men in Los Angeles and a suburban resident last month.

Jerrid Joseph Powell was also charged with one count of residential robbery and one count of being a felon with a firearm, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. He also faces special circumstances of committing multiple murders, murder in the course of a robbery, as well as personal use of a firearm allegations, the statement said.

Powell, 33, was scheduled to appear in court for arraignment later in the day. Efforts during the weekend to determine if he had a lawyer were unsuccessful.

Powell was initially arrested last week as a suspect in a deadly shooting during a robbery at a home in the community of San Dimas east of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles resident was then identified as a suspect in the killings of the three homeless men when a firearm found in his car was linked to those shootings, authorities said.

The motive for the killings of the homeless victims was not known, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said during a weekend press conference announcing the arrest.

Jose Bolanos, 37, was found dead with a gunshot wound around 3 a.m. on Nov. 26 in an alley in South Los Angeles, police said. The following day, Mark Diggs, 62, was shot and killed while pushing a shopping cart around 5 a.m. near downtown, according to officials.

The third shooting occurred Nov. 29 about 2:30 a.m. in the Lincoln Heights area, where the body of a 52-year-old man was found. Police did not immediately identify him pending notification of family.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Simbolon, 42, was shot dead at his home in San Dimas on the evening of Nov. 28. Authorities obtained surveillance images of a suspect vehicle, and the following night a license plate reader in Beverly Hills alerted police who made a traffic stop, resulting in Powell’s arrest.

“I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the incredible men and women of law enforcement who worked tirelessly to bring justice to our community and arrest this individual,” District Attorney George Gascón said in Monday’s statement. “The swift actions of law enforcement undoubtedly saved lives this week.”

If convicted on all charges, Powell faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Los Angeles County is the nation’s most populous, with about 10 million people, and was home to more than one in five of the nation’s homeless people, according to a 2022 federal tally. As of January, the last official count, more than 75,000 people were homeless across the county on any given night.

Advocates for homeless people say those living on the streets are much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators.

Five homeless people were shot in Las Vegas on Friday, one of them fatally, and police were searching for a lone suspect, authorities said.

In Orange County, California, a man was charged with killing four homeless men in a series of stabbings from late 2011 to early 2012. Itzcoatl Ocampo, a former Marine, was charged with four counts of murder with special allegations of multiple murders, lying in wait and use of a deadly weapon in the killings. Ocampo died awaiting trial after reportedly eating cleanser he had collected slowly while in custody.

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File# S233160027

Details:

On November 12, 2023, at about 2:15 p.m., deputies from the Palm Desert Sheriff Station responded to a report of an attempt suicide at a residence on Lyon Steet, in the city of Rancho Mirage. Deputies arrived within minutes and located a male and a female with gunshot wounds. The male victim succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The female victim was transported to a local hospital and succumbed to her injuries. Deputies secured the area as a crime scene and investigators from the Palm Desert Sheriff Station responded. The Central Homicide Unit also responded and assumed the investigation.

The identity of those involved will not be released, pending next of kin notification. This case is being investigated as a murder/suicide. There are no outstanding suspects and there is no threat to the community. The investigation is currently on-going and no further information will be released at this time. If anyone has information regarding this investigation, they are encouraged to call Master Investigator Navarrete with the Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777 or Investigator Evans at the Palm Desert Sheriff Station at 760-836-1600.

For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.

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A Southern California judge charged with killing his wife during an argument while he was drunk pleaded not guilty to murder Tuesday, and his lawyer says it was an “accidental shooting.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ricardo Ocampo ordered Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who appeared in court in a suit and tie, to surrender his passport, submit to searches, and wear monitoring devices for blood alcohol content and GPS as part of new bail conditions sought by prosecutors. Ferguson, who is free on $1 million bail, also is barred from possessing firearms and alcohol and frequenting places such as bars and liquor stores.

After the hearing, Ferguson’s lawyers told reporters the long-time judge and former prosecutor was confident a jury would agree with him that no crime was committed. “This was an unintentional, accidental shooting and not a crime,” attorney Paul Meyer said. The hearing was held in Los Angeles because Ferguson has been a judge hearing criminal cases in a courtroom about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the southeast in Orange County. The next hearing in Ferguson’s case was set for Oct. 30. The 72-year-old was arrested on Aug. 3 at his home in the upscale neighborhood of Anaheim Hills after police found his wife, Sheryl Ferguson, shot to death.

Prosecutors said in court filings that the couple had been arguing and the judge was drinking when he pulled a pistol from an ankle holster and shot her in the chest. The couple’s adult son and Ferguson called 911, and Ferguson texted his court clerk and bailiff to say he had shot his wife, according to the filings. He texted: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors argued the new bail conditions protect public safety and ensure Ferguson doesn’t flee after authorities found 47 weapons, including the pistol used in the shooting, and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition at his home. They say the weapons are legally owned but a rifle registered in his name is still missing. Ferguson was charged with one count of murder and weapons-related enhancements. Larry Rosen, Sheryl Ferguson’s brother, spoke with reporters after Tuesday’s hearing and said it was “hell” when Ferguson looked at him in the courtroom. “My sister was a wonderful person, very caring, very selfless,” Rosen said. “The family is absolutely in shock.”

Rosen declined to discuss Ferguson’s lawyers’ claims that the shooting was an accident and said he would defer to the police and prosecutors who are investigating. Rosen said his sister helped take care of him since he was still a minor when their mother died. He also said she was an active member of her community, participating in Boy Scouts and activities with her now-adult son. The son, who authorities said called 911 after the shooting, is the main focus of the family now, Rosen said. “It’s a tragedy for me. I can’t even fathom what he’s going through right now,” Rosen said.

The arrest shocked the Southern California legal community and officials have been grappling with how the case should be handled. The district attorney’s office in Orange County — a cluster of cities that are collectively home to more than 3 million people — asked state officials to weigh in on whether there was a conflict before charging him last week. Ferguson has been a judge since 2015. He started his legal career in the Orange County district attorney’s office in 1983 and went on to work narcotics cases, for which he won various awards.

He served as president of the North Orange County Bar Association from 2012 to 2014. In 2017, Ferguson was admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance for posting a statement on Facebook about a judicial candidate “with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement,” and for being Facebook friends with attorneys appearing before him in court, according to a copy of the agency’s findings. Ferguson said on his Facebook page that he grew up in a military family and traveled throughout Asia as a child. He went on to attend college and law school in California. He and his wife were married in 1996.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A shooter stood over a 16-year-old mother clutching her 10-month-old baby and pumped bullets into their heads in a brazen attack in a central California farming community that left six dead at a home linked to drugs and guns, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the teenager was fleeing the violence early Monday when the killers caught up to her outside the home in Goshen, a central California community of about 3,000 residents in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley, and shot the young mother and her child “assassination-style.”

The other four victims ranged from 19 to 72 years old, including a grandmother who was shot as she slept. Their autopsies are expected to be completed later in the week.

Authorities said they were searching for two suspects and offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to their arrests.

“None of this was by accident,” Boudreaux said during a news conference Tuesday. “It was deliberate, intentional and horrific.”

Boudreaux walked back his earlier comments to reporters that the attack was likely a cartel hit, saying that investigators are also looking into whether it was gang violence.

“I am not eliminating that possibility,” the sheriff said. “These people were clearly shot in the head and they were also shot in places where the shooter would know that a quick death would occur … This is also similar to high-ranking gang affiliation and the style of executions that they commit.”

Law enforcement is familiar with the home, the sheriff said, citing gang activity there that “has routinely occurred in the past” without giving any specifics. He added that not everyone who was shot was a drug dealer or gang member — and said that among the victims believed to be innocent are the teen, her grandmother, and of course, the baby.

The sheriff’s department on Tuesday identified the victims as: Rosa Parraz, 72; Eladio Parraz, Jr., 52; Jennifer Analla, 49; Marcos Parraz, 19; Alissa Parraz, 16; and Nycholas Parraz, 10 months.

Boudreaux said “there was no reason” for the shooters to kill the young mother and her child.

“I know for a fact this 10-month-old baby was relying on the comfort of his mother. There was no reason for them to shoot that baby, but they did,” he said.

Samuel Pina said Alissa was his granddaughter and the baby, Nycholas, was his great-grandson.

“I can’t wrap my head around what kind of monster would do this,” he told The Associated Press on Monday.

Pina said Parraz and her baby were living with her father’s side of the family in Goshen, and that her dad’s uncle, her dad’s cousin, her grandmother and her great-grandmother were also killed.

He said the family is in shock.

“It comes in big waves,” he said.

Authorities received a call at 3:38 a.m. Monday about multiple shots being fired — so many that it initially seemed like an active shooter situation — at the residence in the town of Goshen, some 170 miles (273.59 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles.

It was later determined the person who made the call was someone hiding at the property. Deputies arrived seven minutes later and found two bodies outside the home in the street, and a third body at the doorstep, Boudreaux said.

Deputies found more victims inside the home, including the grandmother. Down the street they discovered the teen mom and her baby. A forensics investigation revealed she had tried to run away before the shooter caught up with her and stood over her and fired multiple rounds into her skull, Boudreaux said.

“It is very clear that this family was a target,” he said.

Three people survived and will be interviewed by authorities. They include a man who hid in the home as the killings happened.

“He was in such a state of fear that all he could do was hold the door, hoping he was not the next victim,” Boudreaux said.

On Jan. 3, a search warrant at the home led to the arrest of Eladio Parraz Jr., a convicted felon who was killed in the shooting Monday — though Boudreaux said Parraz Jr. was not the “initial intended target” and declined to elaborate. Parraz Jr., 52, had an extensive criminal record including driving recklessly to evade arrest, and possessing firearms and drugs, according to prison records.

The search warrant stemmed from a parole compliance check during which investigators found shell casings on the ground, the sheriff said. The occupants refused to let officials inside the home, Boudreaux said.

They returned with a search warrant and arrested Parraz Jr. after discovering ammunition, a rifle, a shotgun and methamphetamine in the home, court records show. He was released on bail four days later.

Rural California is no stranger to drug-related violence. In 2020, seven people were fatally shot in a small, rural Riverside County town where the property had been used for an illegal marijuana growing operation — a common practice in that area.

The following year, a man accidentally shot himself while working at his family’s illegal marijuana grow in Butte County’s Forbestown. His father and two brothers were accused of moving his body to prevent investigators from discovering the grow site.

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Associated Press writer Martha Mendoza in Santa Cruz contributed to this report. Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York and Video Producer Javier Arciga in San Diego contributed to this report.

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PARADISE, Texas (AP) — A 7-year-old Texas girl has been found dead, two days after being reported missing, and a FedEx delivery driver arrested in her death, authorities said.

The body of Athena Strand was found Friday and Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, was arrested on kidnapping and murder charges after confessing to killing the girl and telling authorities where to find her body, according to Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin.

Horner remained jailed Saturday on $1.5 million bond. Jail records did not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Akin said during a late Friday news conference that a tip led authorities to Horner, who the sheriff said had made a delivery to the girl’s home shortly before she disappeared.

Horner did not know the girl’s family, according to Akin, who declined to discuss a motive for the crime.

“We really can’t get into the content of the confession, but I will say we have a confession” from Horner, Akin said.

The girl’s stepmother had reported her missing on Wednesday from the family home near Paradise on the northwestern outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Her body was found near the town of Boyd, about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) southeast of Paradise, a town of about 475 people, Akin said.

James Dwyer, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, said FedEx cooperated with investigators.

FedEx said in a statement that it is working with law enforcement agencies investigating the case.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Athena Strand during this most difficult time,” according to the statement. “Words cannot describe our shock and sorrow surrounding this tragic event.”

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