Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The suspect who hid away in Mexico until federal and Mexican authorities took him into custody faced arraignment on multiple murder charges Tuesday. Octavio Curiel Martinez, 38, was charged with one count each of murder, murder of a human fetus, attempted murder, shooting at an inhabited structure, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, three misdemeanor counts each of cruelty to a child by endangering health, two counts each of assault with a firearm, injuring a spouse and child abuse, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Martinez also faced the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and allegations of using a handgun, Santiago said. Martinez is accused of shooting and killing estranged wife Ana Nuñez, 37, and their unborn child August 29, 2018 in their El Monte home. Martinez was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. January 3 and arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies. Martinez, a Mexican national, was originally arrested by Mexican police on unrelated charges May 17, 2019 in Bolanos, Jalisco, Mexico -- right where investigators believed he fled. Nuñez’s family went to her El Monte home to check on her hours after Martinez allegedly fired upon, but failed to injure a family member. She was found with multiple gunshot wounds, investigators said. Nunez and her unborn child later died at a hospital. The coroner listed her cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds of the torso. The estranged couple share additional children who were not home when the shooting took place, investigators said. A state warrant was issued for Curiel-Martinez’s arrest September 5, 2018. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a federal arrest warrant March 15, 2019 and he was federally charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, the FBI said.
The arrest and extradition was the work of the Policía Federal Ministerial, Fiscalia General de la Republica, Instituto Nacional de Migracion, the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives, the El Monte Police Department and the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. The extradition was handled by prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs. “Curiel-Martinez’s extradition was sponsored by the U.S. government’s “Project Welcome Home,” which provides funding for the transportation of FBI fugitives to the United States, where the repatriation by the host country occurs through deportation or extradition,” the FBI said. A $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Curiel-Martinez, but it is unclear if anyone will claim the reward. If convicted as charged, Martinez faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - A man convicted of making criminal threats, robbery and witness intimidation, among other crimes, was sentenced to prison Tuesday. John Holmes, 35, was sentenced to 37 years and 10 months in state prison. He was previously convicted on two counts of violating a domestic violence court order, three counts of child endangerment, two counts of robbery, four counts of witness intimidation, bringing narcotics into a jail and criminal threats, Pomona Police said. Holmes terrorized his victim and her children over a period of months starting back on July 21, 2019 when he assaulted his victim and fled the home, leaving three children unattended, Pomona Police said. After moving away, Holmes returned and forcefully robbed his victim of a cell phone, only to return a few hours later when he forcefully took a second phone. He returned to the area once more, but was arrested in a nearby alley.
Cocaine was discovered on Holmes’ person during the booking process, Pomona Police said, during which he threatened two Pomona jailers. “While Holmes was in-custody, he called the victim more than 100 times, threatening her not to go to court,” Pomona Police said in a written statement. Holmes also threatened the victim during the preliminary hearing process, telling her not to take the stand, Pomona Police said. Holmes was convicted on all counts against him. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – The suspect accused of stabbing an Uber driver and holding law enforcement at bay into the nighttime hours appeared in court February 20. Ricky Andrew Alvarez, 23, pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon (knife), assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury; and assault with a deadly weapon by means likely to produce great bodily injury on transportation personnel or passenger, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Public Information Officer Ricardo Santiago. The allegation includes that Alvarez inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim. Alvarez allegedly stabbed an Uber driver multiple times February 17 just before 1 p.m. Witnesses helped Glendora Police locate Alvarez, who fled into a room at the Glendora Motel, 330 W. Route 66, where five other people associated with him were staying. The Uber driver was treated on scene by paramedics and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to the Glendora Police Department. The regional Foothills Special Enforcement Team, a SWAT team made of officers from nearby police departments, responded to assist in apprehending the people barricaded inside one of the hotel rooms. After hours of negotiations, the six exited the motel and where detained.
One of the six was transported to an area hospital for undisclosed reasons. Also arrested from the hotel room were Frank Zavalza, 30; Bridgette Irene Hamlin, 23; Luis Davila, 23; and Larissa Breann Cano, 21. The four others arrested were booked on suspicion of identity theft and obstructing an officer. Cano and Hamlin were additional booked for warrants, according to Glendora Police booking records. Alvarez is being held in the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina Courthouse March 16. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor PASADENA - A man and woman involved in an altercation in a Rose Bowl parking lot that led to the stabbing death of a man pleaded no contest February 11. Los Angeles man Miguel Castaneda, 24, and Pasadena woman Valentina Rosales, 25, entered their pleas Tuesday in he stabbing death of Demetrio Tapia Jr. Castaneda, who pleaded to one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and admitted using a knife, faces 12 years in state prison. Rosales, who pleaded to one felony count of accessory after the fact, faces four years in prison, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Castaneda fought with Tapia and stabbed him in a Rose Bowl parking lot, October 1, 2018. Rosales drove Castaneda from the scene, prosecutors said. Sentencing for both is scheduled on March 4 in Department E of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch, Santiago said. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors announced 66,000 marijuana convictions in Los Angeles County will be dismissed as part of an effort to promote criminal justice reform. The convictions, dating back to 1961, will be dismissed as part of a partnership with Code for America which implemented the Clear My Record pilot program to clear convictions in five California counties: San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, Sacramento County, San Joaquin County and Los Angeles County. 62,000 of those were felony convictions. 4,000 were misdemeanors, with cases filed in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Torrance, Pasadena, Inglewood, Burbank, Santa Monica, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. The convictions were eligible for relief under Prop 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which was passed by the majority of voters November 8, 2016. “The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. In total, more than 85,000 marijuana convictions were dismissed and sealed across the five counties, according to Evonne Silva, senior program director of criminal justice at Code for America.
“This is a clear demonstration that automatic record clearance is possible at scale and can help right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” Silva said. 53,000 people will receive conviction relief through this partnership. Of those, approximately 32 percent are Black or African American, 20 percent are White, 45 percent are Latinx, and 3 percent are other or unknown, the District Attorney’s Office said. Under AB 1793, those with prior convictions for cannabis-related crimes will not be required to petition the court for redesignation or dismissal. The Department of Justice was required to review cases and identify convictions eligible for redesignation or dismissal by July 1, 2020. The bill then requires the courts to automatically redesignate or dismiss convictions by July 1, 2020. “The Clear My Record Application allows District Attorneys to securely and accurately evaluate eligibility for convictions by reading and interpreting criminal history data from the California Department of Justice,” the District Attorney’s Office said. To find out if your record has been cleared, or for more information about this initiative, contact the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office by phone at 323-760-6763 or visit pubdef.lacounty.gov. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Jury members deliberated for two days, ultimately convicting a former Los Angeles Police officer in the murder of a man in Downtown Pomona. Henry Solis, 31, was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Salome Rodriguez. Solis faces 40 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The shooting took place March 13, 2015. Rodriguez walked past Solis as he stood outside a Pomona bar. Solis pursued Rodriguez and fatally shot him. Solis’ attorney tried to persuade the jury that Solis shot Rodriguez in self defense after being attacked.
Solis said in testimony that the shooting resulted from an arrest gone wrong and claimed he pursued Rodriguez who allegedly sexually assaulted Solis. Solis fled after the murder and took refuge in Mexico until his capture and extradition more than two months later. Solis is scheduled to be sentenced March 11. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - An accused drunk driver pleaded no contest Monday to the two charges against him in a crash that killed a man and severely injured the man’s wife. Luis Angel Ureno, 29, pleaded no contest to one felony count each of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Public Information Officer Ricardo Santiago. 42-year-old Hector Espinoza Soltero was killed in the September 18, 2017 collision on the I-10 freeway in Pomona. Espinoza’s wife, Roxana Peña-Beltran, was severely injured. Ureno was speeding when he struck the rear of Soltero’s vehicle. Ureno, a Department of Homeland Security officer at the time of the crash.
Under the terms of the negotiated plea deal, Ureno is expected to be sentenced to three years in state prison. The hearing is scheduled for March 2 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - A former pizza delivery worker was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison in the stabbing death of his supervisor in La Puente
32-year-old Rafael Sanchez of Baldwin Park was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. He was found guilty November 19, 2019 of first degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Daniel Anthony Sanchez, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The stabbing occurred inside Domino’s, 1073 N. Hacienda Blvd., March 10, 2018. Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Industry Station responded at 5:59 p.m. Rafael objected to Daniel Sanchez telling him to do his job. Rafael snuck up behind his supervisor and stabbed him in the neck and back. The knife reportedly used in the stabbing was recovered. Daniel Sanchez was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead, according to detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The suspect accused of molesting a girl from the ages of 12 to 18 years old was sentenced to nearly 11 years in state prison Tuesday. Chin Lee Chook, 56, pleaded no contest to one felony count of oral copulation of a person under 18 and two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 years old, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Chin Lee Chook, aka Desmond Chook, was immediately sentenced to 10 years and eight months in state prison. He must also register as a sex offender for life, Santiago said.
Chook molested the girl from 2012 to 2018 at a variety of places, including the Diamond Bar church where he volunteered, his Diamond Bar office and the girl’s Riverside home. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – Both suspects accused of murdering a 9-year-old girl whose body was dumped in Hacienda Heights pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Taquesta Graham, 29, and Emiel Lamar Hunt, 39, pleaded not guilty to one count of murder each in the death of Trinity Jones. The girl’s body was partially exposed in a large duffle bag and found near an equestrian trail along Colima Road and Hacienda Boulevard in Hacienda Heights March 5, 2019, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Graham and Hunt are accused of killing Jones on or about March 1, 2019. The duo has a criminal history. Hunt was convicted of child abuse with great bodily injury in San Diego County in 2005. In 2016, Graham was convicted of enticing a minor for prostitution in San Bernardino County, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators searched for Graham and Hunt after family identified them as suspects.
Hunt and Graham were stopped attempting to cross a border patrol checkpoint in Hudspeth County, Texas days after Jones was discovered, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. Graham was extradited from Texas March 14 after being held by Texas authorities on an outstanding warrant until Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives brought her to the Sheriff’s Norwalk Station to be booked on the warrant. After being detained in Texas, Hunt drove back to California. He was eventually found sleeping in his black Nissan Armada in a parking lot near San Diego International Airport and arrested, homicide detectives said. If convicted as charged, Graham faces a possible maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison. Hunt faces up to 55 years to life in prison, the DA’s office said. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories
All
|