August 2011 Archives

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- With Alejandro Castillo's criminal case concluding with his sentencing Wednesday, his alleged sexual abuse victims are turning their attention to civil court.

Two brothers who say Castillo molested them three years ago are preparing to file a lawsuit next week against the priest, the Ontario church he oversaw, and the Diocese of San Bernardino, their attorney said.

A man who alleges Castillo abused him in Rialto in 2000 is also contemplating a lawsuit, his attorney said.

The Ontario brothers' attorney, Rebecca Rhoades, said the brothers' case will charge Castillo with sexual battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other causes of action.

The diocese is included as a defendant because it was negligent in training and supervising Castillo, Rhoades alleges.

And after the boys' family reported the alleged abuse, "They feel like they got shut out by the diocese," Rhoades said.

Rhoades said she will file the case in West Valley Superior Court, though it will likely be transferred to a Los Angeles County judge responsible for hearing priest abuse cases, she said.

Castillo was first accused of molestation in 2008, by a man who said he was abused in Rialto in 2000 when he was 18. Castillo was accused again in 2008 or 2009 by a man who later withdrew his accusation.

Both allegations were deemed unfounded by an independent review board in the diocese, though a monsieur ordered Castillo to be trained "regarding establishing healthy boundaries with persons he ministers to," Castillo's probation report says.

"I'm not going to say whether we share the blame or not," diocese spokesman John Andrews said. "I know we have taken a lot of steps since 2002 to protect children in our policies and our training, and to make sure this is something that's emphasized."

"Unfortunately taking those kinds of steps and being consistent and vigilant about it doesn't mean these terrible and sinful things can't happen," Andrews said.

Andrews said that when the diocese learned last year of the Ontario boys' abuse allegations, Castillo was suspended.

Andrews said the diocese paid transportation and lodging costs for a therapist from Mexico who the boys' family requested for counseling. The family turned down other offers of assistance from the diocese, Andrews said.

"We're very saddened at the very sinful and criminal acts that Father Castillo admitted in his guilty pleas," Andrews said. "We believe the sexual abuse of a child goes against the fundamental teachings of the Catholic faith, not to mention the policies that we have in place in the diocese."

UPDATED at 1:45 p.m.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A priest on Wednesday was sentenced to a year in jail and taken into custody for committing lewd sexual acts with a 12-year-old boy in his Ontario parish.

Father Alejandro Castillo, 58, was convicted in April of a felony count of committing a lewd act on a child. He pleaded no contest as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that carried a sentence of a year in jail.

That sentence was imposed Wednesday in West Valley Superior Court by Judge Jon Ferguson.

"To say you took advantage of a position of trust is an understatement," Ferguson said.

Castillo was pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario until mid-2010, after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

The allegations against Castillo are detailed in a sentencing report from the San Bernardino County Probation Department. The report was made public after Castillo's sentencing.

According to the report, five of Castillo's former parishioners have accused him of sexual misconduct, with the oldest alleged abuse occurring in 2000, when Castillo worked at a church in Rialto.

Prosecutors filed criminal charges against Castillo last year in connection with one alleged victim -- a 12-year-old boy from Ontario who said he was abused in late 2008, according to the report.

Criminal charges were not filed in connection with the other four alleged victims -- who include the 12-year-old boy's 16-year-old brother -- due to insufficient evidence or because the allegations are too old, Deputy District Attorney Karen Schmauss said.

The 12-year-old boy said that during overnight stays with Castillo at the church, Castillo touched the boy's genitals and forced the boy to touch Castillo's genitals, according to the report.

The boy said he would share a bed with Castillo during the overnight stays, the report says.

"We trusted Alex with our boys for many years, and he held them in his arms when they were babies," the boys' parents wrote in a statement that was read aloud in court.

"He was not only a spiritual leader but a father, family member, and most importantly a friend. We thought it was a dream, and then understood it was not."

Castillo did not speak during the hearing. In comments to authorities after his plea, he said he was felt ashamed and "unworthy with God," though he denied his abusive conduct was as extensive as alleged, according to the report.

A probation officer concluded in his report that Castillo "still does not seem to understand the seriousness of his behavior and the extent to which his actions harmed the victim."

In addition to sentencing Castillo to a year in jail, Judge Ferguson placed him on probation for three years and told him he must register as a sex offender for life.

Castillo, who had been free on bail since November, was taken into custody at the end of the hearing.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An alleged drunk driver from Ontario pleaded no contest to a felony Monday in connection with a car collision that killed a 60-year-old man.

Jairo Gutierrez, 18, pleaded no contest to the charge -- gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated -- as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that carries a 4-year prison sentence.

Gutierrez is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 27 in West Valley Superior Court.

Jose Cortez of Ontario was killed May 19 when the 1996 Honda Sedan he was riding in was struck by Gutierrez's 1999 Dodge Durango at Euclid Avenue and Philadelphia Street in Ontario.

Gutierrez's, whose blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.10, collided with the other car after making an illegal left-hand turn, according to a police report contained in his court file.

Authorities initially identified Gutierrez as Jairo Gutierrez Zavala, but prosecutors changed the name used to identify him to Jairo Gutierrez.

Gutierrez remained jailed Tuesday in lieu of $750,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

A murder trial is under way in Pomona Superior Court for two men charged with fatally shooting a man last year in what prosecutors described as a gang-motivated crime.

Vincent Lopez, 18, and Miguel Ayala, 21, are accused of shooting 19-year-old Ramiro Chavez on Aug. 14, 2010 in the 500 block of Weber Street in Pomona.

Lopez is allegedly a member of a La Puente-area gang, and he and Ayala allegedly shot Chavez after Chavez said he was a member of a small "tagging crew," according to testimony in an earlier hearing.

On Monday, attorneys began choosing jurors to hear the case. Jury selection is scheduled to conclude Tuesday, with opening statements coming Wednesday, a court staff member said.

FONTANA -- A judge ruled Friday that a 19-year-old man must stand trial on two counts of murder for allegedly killing his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend and dumping her body in a trash can.

The ruling came after two witnesses -- a Fontana police detective and a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy -- testified in Fontana Superior Court about their investigation into the death of Anyssia Escamilla, whose body was discovered in a Corona landfill last year, three months after she went missing.

Her boyfriend, Jesus Francisco Avitia Jr., initially told investigators that Escamilla choked herself at his home.

He later confessed that he inflicted the girl's fatal injuries, left her body in a trash can, and watched from a window three days later as her body was loaded into a garbage truck, according to Friday's testimony.

In making his ruling, Judge Dwight W. Moore rejected an argument from Avitia's attorney that the killing was voluntary manslaughter, committed in the "heat of passion" during an argument.

Leaving Escamilla's body in the trash, Moore said, "is not remotely consistent with voluntary manslaughter. (It's) as cold and unemotional an act as I've ever heard in my life."

Avitia and Escamilla were both students at Bloomington High School, and they began dating in January 2009, Fontana police Detective Shawn Hare testified.

Escamilla discovered she was pregnant shortly before her death, and she and Avitia argued over whether she should keep the child, Hare testified.

On May 11, 2010, Avitia and Escamilla left Bloomington High between classes and went to Avitia's home in the 10900 block of Sumac Court, Hare testified.

In interviews with Hare and San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy Jason Costa, Avitia initially said he and Escamilla argued in his bedroom, and she used two hands to strangle herself.

He later confessed that he put Escamilla in a choke-hold, and applied pressure to her neck for 5 to 10 seconds until he heard a pop, the witnesses testified.

Escamilla went limp in Avitia's arms and showed no signs of life. Avitia said he panicked, covered his girlfriend's body with two large trash bags, and loaded her into a trash can that he dragged to the side of his house, the witnesses testified.

Escamilla was 10 to 11 weeks pregnant at the time of her death, according to prosecutors.

Her body was discovered Aug. 4, 2010 at El Sobrante Landfill in Corona. Her remains were identified using dental records.

Avitia is next due in court Sept. 2. He remained jailed Friday in lieu of $2 million bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

CORONA -- A Norco woman who operated a home-based day care was convicted of child abuse and battery Friday in connection with the alleged abuse of children in her care.

A jury deliberated four days in Corona Superior Court before convicting 42-year-old Connie Lynn Barrett of a felony and a misdemeanor, acquitting her on some charges, and announcing they were deadlocked on others.

A prosecutor called the mixed verdicts a "great victory."

"I was happy that justice was done for Keyara and Kylie and their families, and I'm looking forward to getting justice for the other families also," said Deputy District Attorney Elan Zektser.

Barrett is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14, though she will likely be tried a second time for charges on which the jury deadlocked, Zektser said.

One felony, three misdemeanors and two key sentencing enhancements remain active against Barrett, according to court records.

Prosecutors accused Barrett of abusing seven children -- four girls and three boys -- between 2005 and 2008, when she operated a day care at her home in the 200 block of Seventh Street.

The most severely injured child was a 9-month-old girl named Keyara, who went into cardiac arrest at Barrett's home on Aug. 12, 2008.

The girl remains in a vegetative state, unable to breathe, swallow or move without assistance, prosecutors said.

Barrett's conviction on felony child abuse was for injuries suffered by Keyara, Zektser said.

Injuries suffered by the other six other children included broken ribs, a broken arm, and deep bruising, prosecutors said.

Barrett's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Melissa Hale, said during the trial that Barrett was wrongfully accused of injuring the children, who she said were hurt primarily through accidents and rough play.

Hale said Keyara's health quickly worsened while she was at Barrett's house. Keyara went into cardiac arrest as Barrett was trying to care for her, Hale said.

SAN BERNARDINO -- An Ontario woman pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and assault Friday in connection with the 2007 shooting death of her husband.

Mia Gonzales entered her pleas in San Bernardino Superior Court as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that carries an 8-year prison sentence, her attorney said.

Gonzales, 36, is set to be sentenced Oct. 28.

A jury acquitted Gonzales of murder in April, but deadlocked in its deliberations over a lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

Gonzales testified during her trial that she shot her husband -- 44-year-old state parole agent Abel Gonzales -- in the midst of an argument on Oct. 27, 2007.

She said that as she and her husband argued in their bedroom, Abel Gonzales restrained her and she retrieved a handgun because she feared for her safety.

She testified that her husband grappled with her for control of the weapon and it inadvertently fired. The bullet entered Abel Gonzales' brain and he died instantly, authorities said.

Mia Gonzales' attorney, Mark Fredrick, said Gonzales chose to plead no contest rather than stand trial a second time because, "She's tired, and wants to put it behind her."

"What she said to me is it's time for people to start healing," Fredrick said.

Because Mia Gonzales has been in custody since the shooting, her 8-year prison sentence will be significantly shortened. Fredrick estimated that she will be released from prison in about 2-1/2 years.

Abel Gonzales' sister, Sandy Silva, called the outcome of the case "an injustice for my brother," and said she believes Mia Gonzales should have been convicted of murder.

"It's really sad for us," Silva said. "My mother didn't even go because she was so sick over the whole thing. Her heart was hurting her so much, she just couldn't go."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A choir director from a Montclair church was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison Thursday for committing sexual acts with a 15-year-old choirgirl.

Mark William Michaels, 54, pleaded guilty July 11 to three counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child of 14 or 15 years.

Michaels, of Upland, was arrested June 5 after a Montclair police officer saw him committing a sex act with the girl in a parked car in an alley in the 10200 block of Central Avenue.

In addition to imposing a prison sentence, Judge Michael Libutti ordered Michaels to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and pay $1,342 in restitution.

The money will reimburse the girl's counseling expenses, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson said in West Valley Superior Court.

Michaels' pleas came as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, who agreed Thursday to dismiss Michaels' six remaining criminal counts, which include five counts of lewd or lascivious acts and one count of possessing child pornography.

The San Bernardino County Probation Department prepared a pre-sentencing report about Michaels' case that was made public after Thursday's hearing.

The report details an officer's interviews with Michaels, the girl, and others.

The girl told the officer she's known Michaels for about two and a half years through the choir at the church they both attend, Bethany Baptist Church at 9950 Monte Vista Ave.

The girl told the officer she began committing sex acts with Michaels in January or February. The encounters typically took place at the church, according to the report.

Michaels told the officer he suffers from sexual addiction, which "blurred the lines from right and wrong and kept the affair going," the report says.

"The defendant is truly sorry for his actions and confirms he will enter a sexual rehabilitation clinic and halfway house program to stay out of jail and develop into a healthy individual, free from sex addiction upon his release," the report says.

"He further apologized three times to the victim, family, his wife and other people affected by committing this crime.

"He is 'coping the best I can' and understands he will now be a lifetime sex registrant."

FONTANA -- After hearing testimony from three alleged victims, a judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can try the accused 'Granny Bandit' on four counts of robbery.

The alleged victims each said they feared for their lives in May when confronted by a middle-aged woman holding a handgun and wearing a colorful headscarf.

"I was so worried my daughter was going to see her mother getting shot," said a woman who cried during her testimony in Fontana Superior Court. "I felt like I was going to die."

Dodi Wasbotten, 50, is accused of robbing four women at gunpoint in store parking lots in Fontana between May 8 and May 11.

She was arrested the afternoon of her final alleged robbery, and officers discovered several items in her car that were reported stolen in the robberies, including a purse and credit cards, according to police testimony.

Officers also found a replica pistol made of clear plastic but colored with black marker, according to police testimony.

Wasbotten allegedly used similar techniques in the four robberies, according to victims who testified Wednesday.

She would allegedly approach women in store parking lots as they were loading bags into their cars, threaten them with a gun, and demand that they hand over their purses, according to court testimony.

The four robberies allegedly committed by Wasbotten include:

-- May 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Kohl's, 14960 Summit Ave.

-- May 9 at 8 p.m. at Target, 16964 Slover Ave.

-- May 10 at 11 a.m. at Wal-Mart, 17251 Foothill Blvd.

-- May 11 at 9:45 a.m. at Target, 15272 Summit Ave.

Wasbotten was arrested May 11 at about 1 p.m. following a traffic stop near Sierra Avenue and the 15 Freeway.

A Fontana police crime analyst saw Wasbotten's car and recognized it from vehicle descriptions provided by robbery victims, police said.

Wasbotten, who was wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit in court, remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $500,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

She is next due Sept. 1 in Fontana Superior Court.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled to be held Wednesday in the case of the alleged armed robber known as the "Granny Bandit."

Dodi Wasbotten, 50, was arrested May 11 after allegedly committing four armed robberies over four days in Fontana.

Wasbotten has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and remained jailed Tuesday in lieu of $500,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must present evidence -- typically done through witness testimony -- for a case to proceed to trial.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Sentencing was postponed Tuesday for an Ontario gang member convicted of murdering a fellow gang member in Upland two years ago.

Sentencing for 23-year-old Daniel Vera was postponed to Aug. 30 because his defense attorney was unable to appear for the hearing in West Valley Superior Court, attorneys said Tuesday.

A jury found Vera guilty of first-degree murder last month for the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Manuel Jesus Vega of Ontario on Jan. 13, 2009 outside Vega's mother's apartment in the 300 block of Stillman Avenue.

Authorities said both men were members of the same Ontario gang, which had "green-lighted" Vega, or marked him for death.

RIVERSIDE -- A murder trial opened Monday for a man accused of killing his 2-year-old son, who died last year four days after suffering a brain injury at his father's home.

In his opening statement to jurors, a prosecutor said the boy, Isaac Gallegos of Ontario, suffered head injuries on April 10, 2010 that resembled those of car crash victims.

"He would be 3 years, 7 months, and 9 days old today if he had not been brutally murdered by his own father," Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky said in Riverside Superior Court.

Burke told jurors that Isaac's father, 27-year-old Alex Baeza of Moreno Valley, told Riverside County sheriff's deputies and other people that he was the only person with his son when the boy injured his head.

Baeza gave conflicting statements about how the boy was injured, at times saying his son fell off a bed, and other times saying he accidentally dropped the boy when he tried to lift him by his diaper, Strunsky said.

Isaac Gallegos' resulting injuries were so severe that they couldn't have been caused in an accident, Strunsky said.

"He went from a child that was perfectly healthy, to a child that was on life support and brain-dead," Strunsky said.

Baeza's attorney, Darryl Exum, told jurors that Isaac injured his head when he fell off a bed. Exum also suggested the boy may have had prior injuries that contributed to his death.

The boy's mother, 23-year-old Andrea Gallegos of Ontario, said that when she was 19 she moved from her parents' home in Ontario to an apartment in Riverside, where Baeza was her next-door neighbor.

Gallegos and Baeza dated for six months before Gallegos discovered she was pregnant, she testified. She said she broke up with Baeza that day and moved back to her parents' home.

When Isaac was one, Baeza said he wanted to part of his son's life. Gallegos testified that she agreed to let Baeza take the boy twice a week for visits.

Gallegos said she noticed bruising and other injuries on her son when he would return from visits with his father.

After Gallegos noticed the injuries, she asked a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge in September 2009 to revoke Baeza's visitation rights.

Judge John M. Pacheco dismissed Gallegos' abuse claims as unfounded, and told her, "If you continue to act this way, what I have to do is I'll have to take custody away from you," according to a transcript.

Gallegos said that after the hearing, she feared she would lose her son if she made more abuse allegations or kept her son from visiting Baeza.

When Gallegos left Isaac with Baeza the day the boy was injured, he cried and acted like he didn't want to go with his father, Gallegos testified.

"The way he was acting, his body movements, he didn't want to go," Gallegos said.

Later that day, at about 6 p.m., Gallegos said Baeza called her in a panic and said Isaac injured himself in a fall and stopped breathing.

Strunsky said the boy suffered severe bleeding and swelling inside his brain, and surgeons removed part of his skull in an effort to relieve swelling.

Despite their efforts, the boy was pronounced dead four days later.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a proctor at Hillside High School in Upland accused of sending sexually suggestive text messages to an underage girl.

Ruben Olivas, 60, was charged in December with a single misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child under 18.

That count was dismissed by a judge Tuesday in West Valley Superior Court upon a motion by Deputy District Attorney Marbi Burnette.

"It was just insufficient evidence," Burnette said.

According to a police report in Olivas' court file, a girl who attended Hillside High School told officers Olivas sent her text messages she felt were inappropriate.

In the messages, Olivas allegedly said he wanted to kiss the girl and tried to arrange a meeting with her, according to the report.

Olivas also allegedly told the girl he loved her and offered to buy her alcohol and tobacco, according to the report.

Olivas' attorney, Katherine McBroom, did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

SAN BERNARDINO - Prosecutors on Friday altered the criminal charges filed against a Redlands man accused of kidnapping and molesting a 4-year-old girl.

Prosecutors filed an "amended complaint" charging Terence Anthony Giberson, 52, with five felonies: kidnapping, two counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child under 10, and two counts of forcible lewd act upon a child.

Giberson pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday during a brief hearing in San Bernardino Court. He's next due in court Oct. 6.

Giberson is accused of kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl on Aug. 8 at the apartment complex where he lived in the 900 block of Pine Avenue.

Police said the girl was playing outside her home at about 7:30 p.m. when Giberson lured her into his apartment.

The girl's father came outside and couldn't find his daughter. He eventually saw her through a window in Giberson's apartment, police said.

Both she and Giberson were naked, and the girl was banging on the window and shouting for her father, police said.

Giberson was in custody during Friday's hearing wearing green jail scrubs, which indicate he's being housed in "protective custody" separate from inmates in the jail system's general population.

Giberson remained jailed Friday in lieu of $2 million bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to booking records.

Pictured (L-R): Amy Hillrich, David Olvera and Emilio Saldana

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A custody battle between a divorced couple allegedly led to a Fontana man's fatal shooting Tuesday at an Ontario parking garage, police said.

John Hillrich, a 39-year-old executive at the company that produces Yellow Pages phone books, was shot to death at about 2 p.m. as he was leaving work.

Police said Thursday that Hillrich's ex-wife, 38-year-old Amy Hillrich of Yucaipa, asked her boyfriend, David Olvera, to kill her ex-husband.

"Amy Hillrich asked Olvera to murder her husband ... because John (Hillrich) has ruined her life due to a custody battle over their two children," a detective wrote in a probable cause declaration made public Thursday.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged Amy Hillrich, Olvera and a third man, Emilio Saldana, with murdering John Hillrich.

Saldana was also charged with a felony for allegedly possessing methamphetamine. He also Olvera are both parolees, prosecutors said.

Police said the three suspects used to work together at a Yucaipa care facility. According to divorce records, Amy Hillrich worked as a nurse at Braswell's Hampton Manor in Yucaipa.

The three accused killers appeared for an arraignment Thursday afternoon in West Valley Superior Court, where they pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. They are next due in court Wednesday.

Judge Raymond P. Van Stockum ordered the defendants held without bail. They remained jailed at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Surveillance cameras filmed the alleged killers' vehicle leaving the area after John Hillrich was shot inside a parking structure at 3401 N. Centre Lake Drive, police said.

A witness also saw the vehicle and wrote down its license plate number as the car left the area, police said.

Investigators later determined that Olvera and Saldana were in the car at the time of the shooting. Olvera was also seen with a semi-automatic handgun about two hours before the killing, police said.

Detectives determined that Amy Hillrich was in contact with Olvera and Saldana before and after the shooting, police said.

Amy Hillrich was arrested at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ontario Police Station. Olvera, 24, of Yucaipa and Saldana, 22, of Calimesa were both arrested shortly before midnight Tuesday.

One of John Hillrich's best friends came to the defendants' arraignment, and in an interview afterward expressed shock about his friend's death.

Caleb Gray said John and Amy Hillrich remained friendly after their split in 2004, and seemed close up to the time of the shooting.

"This is such a surprise because of how close they were," Gray said.

Gray said he and John Hillrich met 13 years ago at work. Though Gray soon left the job, he and Hillrich remained close, and the two were roommates for about three years when Hillrich left his wife, Gray said.

Gray said the most important thing in Hillrich's life was his children: a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son.

Gray said he last spoke to Hillrich about four hours before the shooting. Hillrich called him to ask Gray whether he'd be able to attend Hillrich's son's football game that evening, Gray said.

Olvera was convicted of two felonies in 2008, for having unlawful sex with a minor and for shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

He was sentenced to two years in state prison for the latter charge, which counted as a strike within the state's three-strikes law, said David Hidalgo, supervising deputy district attorney.

Saldana was convicted in 2008 of first-degree residential burglary and sentenced to prison. That conviction was also a strike, Hidalgo said.

If convicted of murdering John Hillrich, Olvera and Saldana face maximum prison sentences of 100 years to life, while Amy Hillrich faces 50 years to life, Hidalgo said.

Olvera and Saldana's prison sentences would be doubled because of their prior strike convictions, Hidalgo said.

Pictured (L-R): Amy Hillrich, David Olvera and Emilio Saldana

Updated at 4:40 p.m.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a man's fatal shooting Tuesday at a parking structure in Ontario, police said.

John Hillrich, 39, of Fontana was shot at about 2 p.m. at 3401 E. Centrelake Drive, and later died at a hospital.

Hillrich, an executive for the company that produces Yellow Pages phone books, was leaving his workplace at the time of the shooting, police said.

His estranged wife, 38-year-old Amy Hillrich of Yucaipa, was arrested at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ontario Police Department, booking records show.

Late Tuesday evening detectives arrested two of Amy Hillrich's former co-workers: David Olvera, 24, of Yucaipa, and Emilio Saldana, 22, of Calimesa.

According to John Hillrich's LinkedIn profile, he was regional vice president for sales for SuperMedia LLC, which produces Yellow Pages phone books and offers online advertising.

The three suspects previously worked together at a care facility in Yucaipa, and Amy Hillrich and Olvera were in a relationship, according to a police news release.

Investigators determined that Olvera and Saldana were in a vehicle that left the scene after the shooting, according to the news release. Investigators also recovered bullet casings and other evidence at the scene, police said.

The three suspects remained jailed without bail today at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to booking records.

Brighton Bacchus, one of John Hillrich's former co-workers, said John and his wife were high school or college sweethearts and had children together.

"They got married really young, and really had grown apart," Bacchus said.

Hillrich was a graduate of California Baptist University in Riverside, according to his profile.

"He was very engaging, had a great personality," Bacchus said. "He could talk to anybody. He was very motivating. He was a great leader, really loved his kids, really big basketball fan."

Bacchus said Hillrich was a lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan and played basketball at Cal Baptist University.

Police encourage anyone with information on the shooting to call Detective Gary Naranjo at 909-395-2764. Information can also be submitted anonymously by calling We Tip at 1-800-78-CRIME.

LOS ANGELES -- A Pomona woman who works for the U.S. Social Security Administration was indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges that she stole from Social Security beneficiaries.

Gezal Rebbecca Duran, 32, was indicted on four counts of theft by a government employee, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

She was arrested July 22 and released on bail, and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 29 in Los Angeles federal court, according to the news release.

Duran allegedly stole money between October 2009 and October 2010 while she worked as a claims representative at the Social Security Administration district office in Whittier, according to the news release.

Duran allegedly stole funds by contacting Social Security beneficiaries, telling them they'd been overpaid in their benefits, and demanding that they refund the money in Duran's name, according to the news release.

Today's indictment carries charges for four alleged thefts totaling $6,000, though investigators believe Duran may have taken more than $17,000 from at least 15 beneficiaries, according to the news release.

Duran faces up to 40 years in prison, according to the news release.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A former Long Beach police detective was sentenced to two years in state prison to day for having an ongoing sexual relationship with an underage female relative.

Before he was sentenced, 42-year-old Erik Alvarez of Upland tearfully apologized to his wife and family and said he can't forgive himself.

"I do love them all and I don't exactly know why things went the way they did," he said in West Valley Superior Court. "But we are here, and to them I apologize deeply for everything that brought us here."

Alvarez was arrested in April after his wife walked in on him having sex with the girl in the master bedroom shared by Alvarez and his wife, according to a report prepared by the San Bernardino County Probation Department.

The girl, now 17, told investigators Alvarez began touching her sexually two years ago, when she was 15.

She said Alvarez first had sex with last year, when she was 16, and they had sex about three times a week before the relationship was discovered, according to the report.

Alvarez confirmed the girl's account in an interview with a probation officer, according to the report.

Alvarez was hired by the Long Beach Police Department in 1994, and at the time of his arrest he was a detective in the department's Youth Services Division. He resigned after his arrest.

Before he sentenced Alvarez, Judge Jon Ferguson told him, "You destroyed a family. You destroyed a young life."

Ferguson said Alvarez will be on parole for four years following his release from prison. He also ordered Alvarez to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Alvarez's wife, Cheryl Alvarez, read a statement aloud in court during this morning's hearing. She filed for divorce in May, court records show.

Alvarez, who was in custody wearing green jail scrubs, dabbed his eyes with a tissue as his wife spoke.

"You should be held to a higher standard for what you did because you abused your power of authority, being a highly respected police detective of the past 17 years," Cheryl Alvarez said.

"Your intelligence clearly makes you more dangerous, now that we know that you are a sexual predator. And only you know how far back you started grooming her to be sexually molested by you."

RIVERSIDE -- A Pomona man was one of two people charged by federal prosecutors today for allegedly trying to arrange transport of 154 pounds of cocaine from Bloomington to North Carolina.

Jose Carlos Rios, 43, and Bobby Ray Palacios, 40, of Buena Park, were arrested Friday after Rios allegedly delivered the cocaine to a confidential source working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a news release.

The men were charged with two counts: conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute, according to the news release.

The charges carry a prison sentence of 20 years to life, according to the news release.

Both men appeared this afternoon in Riverside federal court, where Rios' arraignment was postponed to Sept. 21, and a detention hearing for Palacios was postponed to Wednesday, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Both men remained in custody today, Mrozek said.

According to the news release, Palacios initially approached the source, a truck driver, and asked him to transport the cocaine from Bloomington to North Carolina.

Palacios met the man again Thursday, gave him instructions about a handoff planned for the following day, and told him he'd receive $56,000 for moving the cocaine, according to the news release.

Rios allegedly met the source on Friday in Bloomington, where Rios arrived in a vehicle with a hidden compartment that concealed the cocaine, according to the news release.

Rios was arrested Friday in Ontario after delivering the drugs. Palacios was in the area of the delivery, but left afterward and was arrested in Downey, according to the news release.

CORONA -- A trial opened today for a Norco daycare operator charged with abusing seven children in her care, including a girl who was left in a vegetative state three years ago after she was allegedly abused.

Connie Lynn Barrett, 43, allegedly abused the young children -- four girls and three boys -- between 2005 and 2008, when she operated a daycare business at her home in the 200 block of Seventh Street.

In an opening statement in Corona Superior Court, a prosecutor told jurors that when babies in Barrett's care cried, she would drop them in their cribs, cover their mouths, or say, "Stop it."

The alleged abuse culminated in the near-death of a 9-month-old girl, who went into cardiac arrest on Aug. 12, 2008 after being alone with Barrett, said Deputy District Attorney Elan Zektser.

The girl lost her ability to breathe, swallow or move without assistance, Zektser said.

"The judge read great bodily injury -- that's an understatement," he told jurors.

Injuries to other children included broken ribs, a broken arm, and deep bruising, Zektser said.

Barrett's 7-year-old son told investigators his mother's face would have a "mean" expression when she was with the children, Zektser said.

Barrett's defense attorney, Melissa Hale, attacked the prosecution's case in her opening statement, calling Zektser's accusations "a tale that's been concocted."

Hale said Barrett did not abuse the 9-month-old girl who went into cardiac arrest.

She said Barrett tried to care for the girl as the child became panicked, cried and sweated profusely. The girl went limp in Barrett's arms, Hale said.

After the child was hospitalized, Zektser and Riverside County sheriff's deputies contacted parents of other children in Barrett's care, and wrongly attributed their injuries to Barrett, Hale said.

Barrett faces seven counts of inflicting a corporal injury on a child. Two of the counts carry "special allegations" that the children suffered great bodily injury, which if proven could result in a longer sentence.

Barrett has been free on $50,000 bail since her arrest in October 2008.

After attorneys completed opening statements, prosecutors called the 9-month-old girl's great aunt to the witness stand.

Debora Bourdeau cared for the child from June 2008 to the time she was hospitalized, while the child's mother was serving overseas in the Army.

Bourdeau said that she worked during the day Monday through Friday, and while she was at work she left the girl at Barrett's home.

Zektser showed Bourdeau a series of photographs of the child's injuries that were taken while she was hospitalized.

Bourdeau said hadn't seen most the injuries -- mainly deep bruises -- before she left the girl at Barrett's home the day she was hospitalized.

CHINO -- An employee at a mental-health facility in the city has been charged with two felonies for allegedly having illegal sexual contact with a patient.

Ralph Alvin Medina, 28, of Montclair is accused of touching a female patient's genitals and breasts during the woman's stay in late July at Canyon Ridge Hospital in Chino.

According to a police report in Medina's court file, the woman was taking four different medications during her 10-day stay at the facility, to which she was admitted following a suicide attempt.

Authorities contend the heavy drug regimen rendered the woman incapable of legally consenting to Medina's sexual advances.

"(The woman) stated she felt like her time at Canyon Ridge Hospital was 'a haze' and she felt like she was 'living in a dream,'" an officer wrote in the police report.

"She stated given her current mental state ... that if she had not been on the aforementioned medications, she would have been capable of refusing Medina's advances."

Medina was arrested Aug. 1 and charged by prosecutors the following day with sexual penetration of a drugged victim with a foreign object, and sexual battery on medically institutionalized person.

Medina, who remained jailed today, has pleaded not guilty and is next due Tuesday in Chino Superior Court.

The alleged victim reported Medina's alleged abuse to Chino police on July 31, two days after she left Canyon Ridge.

According to the report, she told an officer she was admitted to the facility July 20 after she attempted suicide by taking an excessive dose of lithium.

At Canyon Ridge, the woman said she was placed on four anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications: lithium, Wellbutrin, Ativan and Ambien. The woman told police the drugs left her extremely drowsy and sleepy.

The woman said that Medina's alleged abuse began on the fourth day of her stay at Canyon Ridge.

Medina's duties at the facility during his 3 to 11:30 p.m. shift included checking on patients every 15 minutes to ensure they weren't harming themselves or each other.

The night of July 23, the woman said she took her medication, became drowsy and fell asleep. She said she woke when Medina entered her room and walked to the foot of her bed.

She told police Medina hugged her and touched her buttocks and genitals before leaving, according to the report.

The following evening, Medina again entered the woman's room and told her to move to an area outside the view of a security camera, according to the report.

Medina then allegedly fondled the woman's breasts and genitals. He allegedly committed similar acts with the woman four more times before she was discharged from the facility July 29, according to the report.

Medina was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. on Aug. 1 at a bar in Chino.

When he was interviewed by an officer after his arrest, Medina admitted he had sexual contact with the woman, but he described the contact as mutual, rather than solely driven by him.

Medina remained jailed today in lieu of $150,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Medina's attorney, Celine Samaniego, did not return a call seeking comment.

LOS ANGELES -- An Upland man and his son, an Ontario resident, were sentenced to federal prison today after being convicted of public corruption charges.

Prosecutors accused Fernando Jacobs, a former supervisor with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, of soliciting bribes from immigrants in exchange for bureaucratic favors.

Jacobs, 72, allegedly used his position to carry out the favors, while his son, 44-year-old Patrick Jacobs, acted as a middleman and brokered deals with immigrants, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

U.S. District Judge George H. King sentenced Fernando Jacobs to five years in prison, and sentenced his son to four years in prison, according to the news release. Fernando Jacobs was also fined $30,000.

Prosecutors said that in exchange for bribe money, Fernando Jacobs provided "stamps" to immigrants that allowed them to travel to and from the United States.

He also expedited processing of immigration case files and illegally shared information from immigration databases, according to the news release.

Following a trial in April, a jury convicted the men of conspiracy, bribery and honest services wire fraud. Fernando Jacobs was also convicted of visa fraud, according to the news release.

During today's sentencing, King called Fernando Jacobs greedy and said he "sold out his office for money," according to the news release.

"The significance of public corruption cases like this cannot be overestimated," said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, Jr. in a news release. "The American public demands honest government service and the Department of Justice is committed to policing government and preserving the public trust."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A sentencing hearing was delayed today for a priest convicted of molesting a 12-year-old boy.

Alejandro Castillo, the 58-year-old former pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario, pleaded guilty in April to one count of committing a lewd act on a child.

His sentencing hearing in West Valley Superior Court was delayed because necessary pre-sentencing reports hadn't been completed by a psychologist and the San Bernardino County Probation Department, said Deputy District Attorney Karen Schmauss.

Castillo is now scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31, Schmauss said.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of his brother.

Travon Lamar Brooks is accused of shooting 21-year-old Kenneth Brooks Jr. at about noon on June 30 in the brothers' home in the 7300 block of Shelby Place in Rancho Cucamonga.

Kenneth Brooks was pronounced dead the next day at 3:45 p.m. at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, authorities said.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office filed a complaint against Travon Brooks on July 29, charging him with a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter.

The complaint says Travon Brooks acted "without malice" in the shooting.

He is set to be arraigned Sept. 1 in West Valley Superior Court.

Travon Brooks was arrested June 30 on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm, and booked at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

He was released from custody July 1 after posting $50,000 bail, and remains out of custody, according to court records.

ONTARIO -- Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a man whose attempted murder conviction was overturned on appeal after he spent nine years in state prison.

Ontario resident Rafael Madrigal was released from prison two years ago when his conviction was set aside, but he faced the prospect of a new trial on charges that he participated in a shooting in 2000 in East Los Angeles.

On July 29 in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors announced they were unable to proceed with Madrigal's case, and a judge subsequently dismissed criminal charges upon a motion from Madrigal's defense attorneys.

"I'm glad now," said Madrigal, a 36-year-old married father of four. "I finally got all the weight off my shoulders. This is what I've been pushing for the last two years -- the last 11, actually."

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila said charges could be refiled against Madrigal in the future. He declined to explain why Madrigal's prosecution was dropped.

Based primarily on eyewitness identifications, Madrigal was convicted by a jury of participating in a shooting at about 3 p.m. on July 5, 2000 in which a man survived a bullet wound to the head.

Madrigal said he was at work in Rancho Cucamonga until 3:30 p.m. that day, and had numerous co-workers who were willing to testify in support of his alibi.

"There is compelling evidence in this case that (Madrigal) is actually innocent of the crime for which he was convicted," U.S. Magistrate Judge Marc L. Goldman wrote in a ruling two years ago.

Yet Madrigal's trial attorney, Andrew M. Stein, presented only one alibi witness and failed to introduce other evidence that would have helped Madrigal's case, Goldman wrote.

"Stein did not just botch one witness or one argument or one issue -- he repeatedly demonstrated the lack of diligence required for a vigorous defense," Goldman wrote.

Madrigal was sentenced to 53 years to life in prison, and while incarcerated he said he sometimes wondered whether he would die in prison.

"California doesn't grant parole to lifers, so you have that in the back of your mind: 'Am I going to be here the rest of my life? Am I going to die here?'" Madrigal said.

Madrigal said his parents borrowed against their home to hire an appellate attorney who enlisted the help of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law in San Diego.

Madrigal's father died nine months prior to Madrigal's release from prison, and his family later lost their home to foreclosure.

Though Madrigal said he was overjoyed with his release from prison, he still worried over the prospect of a second trial and a second guilty verdict.

"It's always in the back of your mind," he said. "Given what I went though the first time, through a trial, anything can happen.

"You can have the best attorneys in the world, all the evidence in the world, but you don't know what a jury's going to decide. You always have that thought in the back of your mind, 'What if?'"

When prosecutors announced they were dropping the case, Madrigal said he felt "beyond happiness. ... It was just as good as when they released me."

The day of the announcement, Madrigal was joined in court by his mother, his wife and his 17-year-old son, who immediately posted the news on Facebook, said Madrigal's wife, Virginia Madrigal.

"We were in shock, literally," she said. "It was a really, really good feeling. It was a feeling of relief, because I had seen (my husband) stressed out, just now knowing" the outcome.

"Our kids are not going to have to worry about their dad going back to prison or anything like that," Virginia Madrigal said. "He's a free man."

Rafael Madrigal said his family is living in a rented home in Ontario, and he's working at a warehouse in the city, where he loads and unloads gardening and outdoor-living products from freight trucks.

"It's been a rough 11 years," Madrigal said. "But it's finally over, and me and my family can finally move on."

The former pastor of an Ontario church is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday on charges that he molested a 12-year-old boy.

Alejandro Castillo, 58, pleaded guilty in April to one count of committing a lewd act on a child. Castillo was pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Castillo pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that carries a yearlong jail sentence. The agreement also requires Castillo to register as a sex offender.

POMONA -- A man accused of participating in a fatal car-to-car shooting two years ago was sentenced to 13 years in state prison this week after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter.

Ramiro Hernandez, 19, entered his plea and was sentenced Monday in Pomona Superior Court as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

According to prosecutors, a passenger in a car Hernandez was driving opened fire on another vehicle on Dec. 19, 2009 near Garey Avenue and Philadelphia Street in Pomona.

The driver of the other car, 21-year-old Edgar Silva, was shot in the head and killed.

Police never arrested a shooter in the case.

Prosecutors initially charged Hernandez with murder under the theory that he "aided and abetted" the gunman, and twice brought his case to trial.

Each trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. In the most recent trial, which ended last month, the jury was split 7-5 in favor of a guilty verdict for murder, said Deputy District Attorney Ian Phan.

The mistrials were a factor in prosecutors' decision to enter into a plea agreement with Hernandez, Phan said.

"We tried it twice, so we figure the interest of justice requires that we settle the case," Phan said.

A man who was with Silva when he was shot testified last year in a preliminary hearing that the shooting came after a brief confrontation with two men who appeared to flash gang signs.

The man said that as he and Silva walked to Silva's home on Philadelphia Street at about 9 p.m., they passed a car stopped at a red light that was allegedly driven by Hernandez.

The car followed them to Silva's home and stopped. Two men inside the car flashed what seemed to be gang signs, and the vehicle drove off, the man testified.

The witness said he and Silva then left in Silva's car. The other vehicle followed them briefly and a man in the front-passenger seat opened fire with a handgun, the witness testified.

Police identified Hernandez as the alleged driver in the incident after receiving a tip that he owned a car -- a 1988 Honda CRX -- that matched the description of the vehicle used in the shooting, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Hernandez also allegedly confessed to a person who later repeated his admission to police, according to a detective's testimony at the preliminary hearing.

Pictured (at left): Miguel Herrera and Erica Flores. Pictured (below) is the memorial at the crash site.

POMONA -- A woman accused of killing a man and his pregnant girlfriend Monday in a car collision was arrested last week in a separate misdemeanor case, which resulted Friday in a 90-day jail sentence.

But due to overcrowding, 26-year-old Lorraine Martinez spent only two more days in custody. She was released from jail Sunday, authorities said.

The next day, she allegedly drove a stolen car into another vehicle at Holt and Garey avenues in Pomona, causing the other car to break in half and catch fire, police said.

The two people in the car -- Miguel Herrera, 22, and his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend Erica Flores, both of Pomona -- were killed in the crash and burned beyond recognition, police said.

Despite her lengthy jail sentence, Martinez was released from custody in a matter of days because of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department practice designed to counter overcrowding in county jails, which are administered by the department, a deputy said.

The department immediately releases inmates who are sentenced to 90 days or less for certain offenses, Deputy Lillian Peck said.

At about 1:30 a.m. Monday, Martinez allegedly sped east on Holt in a 2008 Infiniti G375 that she reportedly stole an hour earlier from her boyfriend, police Cpl. Bert Sanchez said.

She allegedly broadsided a 1995 Nissan Maxima that was making a left-hand turn from westbound Holt into a Jack in the Box restaurant at the southeast corner of Holt and Garey, police said.

The impact drove the Nissan into a pole, and the vehicle broke in half and caught fire, police said.

Martinez, a Pomona resident who was reportedly unlicensed, suffered minor injuries in the collision, police said

Martinez also admitted she was high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash, Deputy District Attorney Chris Stogel said.

In her earlier case, Martinez was arrested July 27 in Pomona and subsequently charged with three misdemeanors: possession of a controlled substance, threatening a person with a deadly weapon, and possession of a narcotics pipe.

On Friday, in her first appearance in the case in Pomona Superior Court, Martinez pleaded no contest to two of the charges.

Judge Juan Carlos Dominguez sentenced Martinez to 90 days in jail and placed her on probation for three years.

Martinez returned to court today for a new hearing in the case, which was scheduled because prosecutors filed a request following Monday's crash to revoke Martinez's probation.

During this afternoon's hearing, Dominguez called the developments in Martinez's case "extremely troubling." He ordered Martinez held without bail pending a probation revocation hearing.

Martinez is next due in court Sept. 12, when Dominguez and attorneys will discuss scheduling for Martinez's probation revocation hearing.

Martinez's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Ramiro Cisneros, said Martinez could return to court earlier if prosecutors file new criminal charges in connection with Monday's crash.

Cisneros declined to go into detail about Martinez's arrest last week or Monday's crash, but he did briefly describe Martinez's feelings about the fatal collision.

"She's obviously very upset about what happened," he said. "Other than that, I can't tell you anything else."

Martinez remained jailed today at Central Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

Police today were still investigating Monday's collision, and hadn't presented their case to prosecutors, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Sanchez said the investigation into Monday's crash will likely take one or two months to complete.

He urged witnesses of the collision to contact the Pomona Police Department at 909-620-2081.