File# PE232110048

Details:

On Sunday, July 30, 2023, at 1:44 p.m., a smash-n-grab robbery occurred at a local jewelry store in the 1600 block of Perris Boulevard in the city of Perris. Seven masked suspects entered the location, pepper-sprayed the security guard, and broke the glass on several display cases, stealing $100,000 in jewelry.

The Perris Sheriff’s Station Robbery Burglary Suppression Team (RBST) assumed the investigation and discovered that over a month and a half, there had been numerous smash-n-grab robberies at these jewelry stores throughout Southern California.

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, officers from the Corona Police Department responded to a smash-n-grab robbery in the city of Corona, where they located the suspect vehicle. After a brief pursuit, the Corona Police Department arrested two suspects. Perris Sheriff’s Station RBST collaborated with the Corona Police Department and obtained information linking one of their suspects, Joshua Lewis, a 24-year-old resident of Inglewood, to the Perris robbery. Perris Sheriff’s Station RBST also learned the same suspects committed another smash-n-grab robbery in the city of Thousand Oaks. Perris Sheriff’s Station RBST obtained a warrant for Lewis; however, Lewis had already posted bail and was released from custody, and Perris Sheriff’s Station RBST could not locate him.

On Thursday, January 11, 2024, about 0900 hours, the Perris Sheriff’s Station RBST, along with the Perris Sheriff’s Station Special Enforcement Team, located Lewis in the 4000 block of Main Street in the city of Riverside. Lewis was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center for robbery and additional felony charges. This investigation is ongoing. No additional details are available.

Anyone with additional information should call Deputy Ramirez at Riverside County Sheriff’s Dispatch at (951) 776-1099 or the Perris Sheriff’s Station at (951) 210-1000.

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

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Suspect of a Smash and Grab Robbery Series Arrested appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # MV230920258

Details:

On Sunday, April 2, 2023, at 8:00 PM, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Moreno Valley Station responded to an armed robbery at a business in the 25000 block of Sunnymead Boulevard, in the city of Moreno Valley. Upon arrival, deputies learned that the suspect entered the business, brandished a firearm, and demanded money before fleeing in a vehicle in an unknown direction with an additional suspect.

About 8:14 PM, deputies located the suspect vehicle in the 2000 block of Alessandro Boulevard, in the city of Riverside. Deputies located both suspects, along with a replica firearm and the stolen property. Christian Garibay (28 years old of Baldwin Park) and Rayanne Zertuche (29 years old of Hesperia) were positively identified as the suspects. They were both later booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center for Armed Robery and Conspiracy.

Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to call Deputy Vanderwielen at the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station by calling (951)486–6700.

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

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle https://hsjchronicle.com/

The post Armed Robbery with Suspects In-Custody appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # PC230850021

Details:

On Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 05:59 A.M., deputies from the Perris Station responded to a suspicious person call in the 22000 Block of Cajalco Road, in Mead Valley; where a subject was disoriented and bleeding from the head. The subject was located and transported to a local hospital. The victim told deputies he was driving his friend’s black 2008 Saturn Vue when he gave two unknown male subjects a ride. The two subjects assaulted him, fired a round from a sawed off shotgun, and stole the vehicle. Prior to the assault, deputies learned they drove to a local convenience store where one of the subjects got out and went inside before returning. The vehicle was later recovered in the city of Moreno Valley. The Perris Station’s Robbery Burglary Suppression Team (RBST) assumed the investigation and obtained the video surveillance from the convenience store. With the help from the Gang Task Force and the Moreno Valley Gang Team, both suspects were identified as Anthony Atilano (28-year-old of Moreno Valley) and Daniel Quevedo (29-year-old of Moreno Valley).

On Sunday, April 2, 2023, at 1:00 P.M., deputies from the Jurupa Valley Station’s Special enforcement Team (JVS SET) were conducting a separate investigation at a residence in the 18000 Block of Haines Street, in the city of Perris. JVS SET deputies located Anthony Atilano during their investigation and detained him for Perris RBST. Shortly after, JVS SET deputies obtained information on their suspect and responded to a motel located in the 3000 block of La Sierra Avenue, in the city of Riverside. JVS SET deputies located the suspect in their case along with Daniel Quevedo in room 242. Perris RBST authored and served a search warrant at the hotel room and located evidence of the carjacking crime including the sawed off shotgun. Both Atilano and Quevedo were interviewed and later transported and booked into jail for multiple felony charges. This investigation is on-going.

Anyone with additional information is urged to call RBST Investigator Rooker at Riverside County Sheriff’s dispatch at (951) 776–1099, or the Perris Station at (951) 210–1000.

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

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle https://hsjchronicle.com/

The post Carjacking Suspects Arrested, Search Warrant appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A farmworker accused of killing seven people in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms was charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

Chunli Zhao, 66, was set to make his first court appearance Wednesday but it was postponed until Feb. 16, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. His two attorneys did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Wagstaffe, speaking outside the courthouse, declined to share any additional details on a motive in the killing of Zhao’s current and former coworkers, saying he wanted to keep the details out of the public eye to ensure a fair trial. Sheriff’s officials have said it was workplace violence.

It was California’s third mass shooting in eight days, and the largest in San Mateo County’s history, Wagstaffe said. It followed the killing of 11 people in the Los Angeles area amid Lunar New Year celebrations Saturday.

Authorities believe Zhao acted alone Monday when he entered a mushroom farm where he worked in Half Moon Bay, shot and killed four people and seriously wounded a fifth. He then drove to a nearby farm where he worked previously and killed three more people, said Eamonn Allen, a sheriff’s spokesperson.

Erlin Ortiz and her sister, Miriam Ortiz, pack mushrooms at the farm where Zhao is accused of killing four people.

They were sitting in their car after their shift when they saw Zhao, who was about 40 feet (12 meters) away, pull a gun from a backpack, shout something in Mandarin to a fellow Chinese farmworker and then shoot the man, they told the Bay Area News Group.

Zhao then shot a second worker, and gunned down the first worker who had gotten to his feet and tried to run away, Erlin Ortiz said.

“He was super red and very angry,” she said of Zhao.

Shocked and horrified, Miriam Ortiz’s husband, who was behind the wheel, started the car and prepared to drive away.

Zhao turned to look at them, then hopped onto a forklift and headed toward an encampment on the farm where he and the sisters lived. His demeanor had changed, they said.

“He was laughing, he was smiling,” Erlin Ortiz said. “We saw him get on the forklift, and when he turned to see us, he was making fun of the situation.”

Erlin Ortiz said Zhao, who grew onions for himself and his wife in a little garden plot, would wave and greet them but always seemed serious.

The charges against Zhao include additional allegations that could result in the death penalty or life in prison without parole, though Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a moratorium on executions. Among those allegations are that Zhao used a gun, caused great bodily injury and killed multiple people.

The coroner’s office named six of the victims: Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Beach, California; Aixiang Zhang, 74, of San Francisco; Qizhong Cheng, 66, of Half Moon Bay; Jingzhi Lu, 64, of Half Moon Bay; and Yetao Bing, 43, whose hometown was unknown. The charging documents identify Jose Romero Perez as the other person killed and Pedro Romero Perez as the eighth victim, who survived the shooting.

Officials have said some of the people killed were migrant workers. Some people were shot in trailers on the property, Wagstaffe said.

Servando Martinez Jimenez said his brother Marciano Martinez Jimenez, one of the victims, was a delivery person and manager at one of the farms. He never mentioned Zhao or said anything about problems with other workers.

“He was a good person. He was polite and friendly with everyone. He never had any problems with anyone. I don’t understand why all this happened,” Martinez Jimenez said in Spanish.

Marciano Martinez Jimenez had lived in the United States for 28 years after arriving from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Servando Martinez Jimenez said he is working with the Mexican consulate to get his brother’s body home.

It would not have been Zhao’s first fit of workplace rage, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. In 2013, Zhao was accused of threatening to split a coworker’s head open with a knife and separately tried to suffocate the man with a pillow, the Chronicle reported, based on court documents.

The two were roommates and worked at a restaurant, and the man, identified as Jingjiu Wang, filed a temporary restraining order against Zhao that was granted but is no longer in effect. Wang could not be immediately reached, the Chronicle reported.

Zhao is from China and has lived in the United States for at least a dozen years, Wagstaffe said. He had legal paperwork to live in the country at one time and investigators were determining whether it was still valid, Wagstaffe said. They were also looking into his prior contact with law enforcement.

The shootings broke out at California Terra Garden, previously known as Mountain Mushroom Farm, and nearby Concord Farms.

The majority of farmworkers in the area are Latinos but the Mountain Mushroom Farm was one of the few that employed Asian workers, said Belinda Hernandez, executive director of ALAS, a farmworker advocacy group based in Half Moon Bay. She said that mushroom farms offer the benefit of year-round work.

David Oates, a California Terra Garden spokesperson, said that he did not know how long Zhao worked there and that he was one of 35 employees who had stayed when ownership changed. He declined to comment further Wednesday, saying he would defer to law enforcement. And Aaron Tung, part owner of Concord Farms, did not respond Wednesday to a request for additional comment.

Half Moon Bay is a small, laid-back, coastal and agricultural city about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Its sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean make it a popular spot for hikers and tourists, who flock there to surf and for an annual giant pumpkin festival.

The new year has brought six mass killings in the U.S. in fewer than three weeks, accounting for 39 deaths. Three have struck California since Jan. 16, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The database tracks every mass killing — defined as four dead, not including the offender — in the U.S. since 2006.

The shootings in Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park followed the killing of a teenage mother, her baby and four others at a home in California’s Central Valley on Jan. 16. Officials discussing the investigation mentioned a possible gang link to the killings. ___

This story has been corrected to say six people, not eight people, were killed in California’s Central Valley on Jan. 16.

___

Gecker reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Janie Har in San Francisco and Sophie Austin in Sacramento, along with researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York, contributed.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Suspect in Half Moon Bay farm killings faces 7 murder counts appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in suburban Chicago and then fled to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspect turned back to Illinois, where he was later arrested, after deciding he was not prepared to pull off another attack in Wisconsin, Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference following a hearing where the 21-year-old man was denied bond.

The parade shooting left another American community reeling — this time affluent Highland Park, home to about 30,000 people near the Lake Michigan shore. More than two dozen people were wounded, some critically, and hundreds of marchers, parents and children fled in a panic.

Covelli said it did not appear that the suspect had planned another attack in Wisconsin, but fled there, saw another Independence Day celebration and “seriously contemplated” firing on it. The assailant had ditched the semi-automatic rifle he used in Illinois, but he had another, similar rifle and about 60 more rounds with him, according to Covelli.

Police later found his phone in Middleton, Wisconsin, which is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) from Highland Park.

For hours before his arrest, police warned that the gunman was still at large and that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks. Most festivities in and around Wisconsin’s capital city went ahead.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told a news conference Wednesday that the FBI urged the department on Monday evening to prepare its SWAT team because investigators believed the gunman could be in the area. Barnes said he was not warned at the time that the shooter was considering carrying out further attacks.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said in court that the gunman climbed up the fire escape of a building above the Highland Park parade, “looked down his sights, aimed” and fired at people across the street. He left the shells of 83 bullets and three ammunition magazines on the rooftop. He initially evaded capture by disguising himself as a woman and blending into the fleeing crowd, according to police.

Some of the wounded remained hospitalized in critical condition, Covelli said, and the death toll could still rise. Already, the deaths from the shooting have left a 2-year-old boy without parents, families mourning the loss of beloved grandparents and a synagogue grieving the death of a congregant who for decades had also worked on the staff.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said he planned to bring attempted murder and aggravated battery charges for each individual who was hurt.

“There will be many, many more charges coming,” he said at a news conference, estimating that those charges would be announced later this month.

If convicted of the first-degree murder charges, the gunman would receive a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

The suspect, Robert Crimo III, wore a black long-sleeve shirt as he appeared in court by video. As the prosecutor described the shooting, he said little besides telling the judge that he did not have a lawyer.

On Tuesday, Thomas A. Durkin, a prominent Chicago-based lawyer, said he would represent Crimo and that he intended to enter a not guilty plea to all charges. But Durkin told the court Wednesday that he had a conflict of interest with the case. Crimo has been assigned a public defender.

Rinehart also left open the possibility of charging Crimo’s parents, telling reporters that he “doesn’t want to answer” that question right now as the investigation continues.

Steve Greenberg, the lawyer for Crimo’s parents, told The Associated Press that the parents aren’t concerned about being charged with anything related to their son’s case.

Questions also arose about how the suspect could have skirted Illinois’ relatively strict gun laws to legally purchase five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide.

Police went to the home following a call from a family member who said Crimo was threatening “to kill everyone” there. Covelli said police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword, but said there was no sign he had any guns at the time, in September 2019. Police in April 2019 also responded to a reported suicide attempt by Crimo, Covelli said.

Illinois state police, who issue gun owners’ licenses, said Crimo applied for a license in December 2019, when he was 19. His father sponsored his application, and he purchased the semi-automatic rifles in 2020, according to Covelli.

In all, police said, he purchased five firearms, which were recovered by officers at his father’s home. He purchased four of the guns while he was under 21 and bought a fifth after his birthday last year.

The revelations about his gun purchases offered just the latest example of young men who were able to obtain guns and carry out massacres in recent months despite glaring warning signs about their mental health and inclination to violence.

The state police have defended how the application was handled, saying that at the time “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger” and deny the application, state police said in a statement.

Investigators who have interrogated the suspect and reviewed his social media posts have not determined a motive or found any indication that he targeted victims by race, religion or other protected status, Covelli said.

In 2013, Highland Park officials approved a ban on semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. A local doctor and the Illinois State Rifle Association quickly challenged the liberal suburb’s stance. The legal fight ended at the U.S. Supreme Court’s doorstep in 2015 when justices declined to hear the case and let the suburb’s restrictions remain in place.

Asked whether Crimo’s case demonstrates flaws in state law, Rinehart said that “the gap in the state’s gun laws would be that we don’t ban assault weapons.”

Under Illinois law, gun purchases can be denied to people convicted of felonies, addicted to narcotics or those deemed capable of harming themselves or others. That last provision might have stopped a suicidal Crimo from getting a weapon.

But under the law, who that provision applies to must be decided by “a court, board, commission or other legal authority.”

The state has a so-called red flag law designed to stop dangerous people before they kill, but it requires family members, relatives, roommates or police to ask a judge to order guns seized.

Crimo, who goes by the name Bobby, was an aspiring rapper with the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting on social media dozens videos and songs, some ominous and violent.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Police: Parade shooting suspect contemplated 2nd shooting appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # I221350057

Details:

In the mid-afternoon on May 15, 2022, San Jacinto Deputies responded to the 300 block of S. Mistletoe Avenue, San Jacinto, regarding a wanted fugitive, Wayne Daniel Morgan, a 40-year-old resident of Hemet. Morgan, who had a felony warrant for his arrest for parole violation; was also wanted on a multitude of other charges, including Carjacking, Armed Robbery, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and Residential Burglary. Morgan, who is the primary suspect involved in multiple residential burglaries in the Hemet County and San Jacinto area, was taken into custody without incident.

Morgan was found in possession of ammunition and booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility for the aforementioned charges held on $100,000 bail. This investigation is currently ongoing and no further information will be released at this time. If anyone has information regarding this investigation, they are encouraged to contact Deputy Pena or Deputy Post at the San Jacinto Sheriff’s Station at 951-654-2702.

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

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Suspect in Multiple Residential Burglaries Taken into Custody appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department | Contributed

Felony charges may be filed Wednesday against a man suspected of gunning down a 37-year-old East Hemet resident and leading law enforcement on a brief pursuit.

Bryan Paul Goetter, 43, of East Hemet was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside Friday night on suspicion of murder. He’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to Sgt. Richard Carroll of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, at about 11 a.m. Friday, Goetter was involved in an unspecified confrontation with Matthew A. Lunsford, who was inside a parked vehicle at the intersection of Collegian Way and Dartmouth Street.

During the encounter, the suspect allegedly pulled a gun and shot the victim, Carroll said. He said deputies were called to the location immediately afterward and found Lunsford dead in the car.

“Several witnesses reported seeing a vehicle fleeing the scene,” the sergeant said. “The California Highway Patrol was notified of the vehicle description, and shortly after, a CHP officer located the vehicle.”

Carroll said a brief pursuit ensued, but Goetter stopped and surrendered without further incident.

A possible motive for the attack was not disclosed.

According to public records, Goetter and Lunsford once occupied the same property in the 41300 block of Collegian Way, but it was unclear whether they were sharing the residence at the time of the alleged shooting.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case.

Goetter has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Possible Charges Against Suspect of Killing East Hemet Resident appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A second suspect arrested Tuesday in connection with the mass shooting that killed six people in Sacramento had posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun hours before gunfire erupted, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Smiley Martin, 27, who is the brother of the first suspect taken into custody, was arrested while hospitalized with bullet wounds from the shooting in California’s capital.

Martin was released from prison on probation in February after serving his term for punching a girlfriend, dragging her from her home by her hair and whipping her with a belt, prosecutors said.

Martin may have been released sooner, but a Parole Board rejected his bid for early release in May after prosecutors said the 2017 felony assault along with convictions for possessing an assault weapon and thefts posed “a significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community.”

“Martin’s criminal conduct is violent and lengthy,” a Sacramento prosecutor wrote in a letter obtained by AP. “Martin has committed several felony violations and clearly has little regard for human life and the law.”

Authorities are trying to determine whether the weapon seen in the video was used in the shooting, said the official, who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to publicly discuss details and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Investigators believe the brothers possessed stolen guns. They are reviewing financial documents, call records and social media messages to determine how and when they procured weapons, the official said. Authorities have searched several locations in connection with the shooting and the firearms investigation.

More than 100 shots were fired in rapid-fire succession early Sunday near the state Capitol, creating a chaotic scene with hundreds of panicked people trying desperately to reach safety. Twelve people were wounded by gunfire, including the Martin brothers.

Dandrae Martin, 26, was arrested Monday as a “related suspect” on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun. He was not seriously wounded and made a brief appearance Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court wearing orange jail scrubs.

Smiley Martin will be booked for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun when his condition improves enough for him to be jailed, a police statement said.

Police were trying to determine if a stolen handgun found at the crime scene that had been converted to a weapon capable of automatic gunfire was used in the massacre.

Smiley Martin was taken to the hospital from the crime scene, police said.

“Martin was quickly identified as a person of interest and has remained under the supervision of an officer at the hospital while his treatment continues,” the statement said.

Detectives and SWAT team members also found a handgun during searches of three area homes.

The shooting happened at about 2 a.m. Sunday as bars were closing and patrons filled the streets. The three women and three men killed included a father of four, a young woman who wanted to be a social worker, a man described as the life of the party, and a homeless woman.

The Sacramento County coroner identified the women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21. The three men were Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.

Police were investigating whether the shooting was connected with a street fight that broke out just before gunfire erupted. Several people could be seen fighting in videos on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars when gunshots sent people scattering.

Officers were reviewing more than 100 videos and photos sent by witnesses for possible use as evidence, police said.

A 31-year-old man who was seen carrying a handgun immediately after the shooting was arrested Tuesday on a weapons charge, though police said his gun was not believed to be used in the crime.

District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert noted Monday that Dandrae Martin was not arrested on suspicion of homicide but said more arrests were expected.

Dandrae Martin, who was held without bail, was freed from an Arizona prison in 2020 after serving just over 1 1/2 years for violating probation in separate cases involving a felony conviction for aggravated assault in 2016 and a conviction on a marijuana charge in 2018. Court records show he pleaded guilty to punching, kicking and choking a woman in a hotel room when she refused to work for him as a prostitute.

Defense lawyer Linda Parisi said she doesn’t know enough about the case yet and whether she will seek Dandrae Martin’s release will depend on whether prosecutors bring stiffer charges.

“If it turns out that the evidence demonstrates that this was mere presence at a scene that certainly argues more for a release,” Parisi said. “If it shows some more aggressive conduct then it would argue against it. But we don’t know that yet.”

It wasn’t clear if Smiley Martin had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Four of those wounded suffered critical injuries, the Sacramento Fire Department has said. At least seven of the victims had been released from hospitals by Monday.

At the scene where the chaos erupted, memorials with candles and flowers grew on the same sidewalks where people had run in terror as others lay on the ground writhing in pain.

Politicians decried the shooting, and some Democrats, including President Joe Biden, called for tougher action against gun violence.

California has some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on firearms, requiring background checks to buy guns and ammunition, limiting magazines to 10 bullets, and banning firearms that fall into its definition of assault weapons.

But state lawmakers plan to go further. A bill received its first hearing Tuesday would allow citizens to sue those who possess illegal weapons, a measure patterned after a controversial Texas bill aimed at abortions.

Other proposed California legislation this year would make it easier for people to sue gun companies and target unregistered “ghost guns,” firearms made from build-it-yourself kits.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Official: Sacramento shooting suspect seen on video with gun appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

“How is it that society all of a sudden care more for [the person] who killed my daughter,” asked Angel Ramirez, speaking about the defendant, 80-year-old Michelle Morris of La Cresta. “I don’t understand. If I committed murder … or someone else, I guarantee they wouldn’t have been able to get out this easily.”

Ramirez’s daughter, Diane “Princess” Ramirez, entered the foster care system in April 2018 and was sent to the Morris Small Family Home in the unincorporated community of La Cresta near Murrieta. Her mother said she was soon contacted by an investigator who raised concerns about allegations of some of the dependents being cared for at the home being subjects of “bruising.”

A Riverside County couple charged in the death of a disabled teenager who was living at their foster home appeared in court. They are charged with multiple felonies, including murder and sexual abuse.

“My question was whether my daughter was OK,” said Ramirez, who was disturbed that despite the allegations, her daughter was never removed from the foster home. “I said, ‘Can they remove her?’ and he said, ‘This investigation takes time.'”

Tragically, the teen died on April 6, 2019. According to her family, the operators of the Morris Small Family Home did not immediately call 911.

“I asked the nurse, ‘Why didn’t anyone do anything? Did they try to help her out? Why didn’t they do CPR right away?” asked Ramirez. “The nurse told me herself that she felt something was not right.”

Nearly two years later, Morris – one of the operators of the Morris Small Family Home – was indicted on a variety of charges involving several victims. The charges included murder, child endangerment, dependent adult endangerment and lewd acts on a dependent adult.

Her bail was originally set at $1 million, but during a recent hearing, it was lowered to $50,000. She is no longer in custody.

The judge who made the ruling cited a recent California Supreme Court decision which requires judges to now consider a defendant’s ability to pay bail in addition to the seriousness of the charged crimes when deciding the bail amount.

The attorney representing the defendant argued that because of the Supreme Court’s decision, these additional factors must be considered and are not optional.

He mentioned two other murder cases in Riverside County where accused murderers have been released: one with a bail set at $25,000 and one released on their own recognizance.

The judge agreed that the Supreme Court ruling significantly changes how bail amounts are set, saying defendants can’t be detained simply because they’re poor.

“It changes the landscape for how we assess release and under what conditions ask for bond,” said Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin doesn’t disagree with the judge’s decision to lower Morris’ bail, saying he was simply following the law.

“We want to be fairer, and I agree that we want to get away from a system where there’s one standard for people who are wealthy, and other standards for people who are not,” he said. “But obviously, I’m troubled by the outcome [in this case.] I’m troubled by the fact that someone charged with that seriousness of crimes can walk out.”

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department | Contributed

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Family of teen who died while in foster care furious after suspect released from jail appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.