187: January 2008 Archives

"I don't want this to happen to any family. Politicians come on listen to us. This is an election year." Jeanette Chavez, mother of Sammantha Salas.

"The retailiation and violence is impractical and immoral. The violence must stop." Bishop William LaRue Dillard, 2nd Baptist Church Monrovia. "We are in a crisis in Monrovia."

"We should pray for grace and wisdom. We need to promote a culture of life not a culture of death." Father Charles Ramirez, Annunciation Parish, Monrovia.

"Law enforcement from the San Gabriel Valley has come together. Fifteen agencies are sending officers to assist us, but the problem will not be solved with law enforcement alone."
Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson. "These are sociopaths they have no fear of their families their chruch -- anybody."

Police now say Brandon Lee, who was shot to death Tuesday night in the 500 block of Almond Street died holding a piece of rock cocaine. Not sure if that meant he was selling it or buying it when he was shot.

Interesting tidbit anyway.

The photo at right is from Tuesday night as police raided the home of Sanders Rollins. lee was shot while all these coppers were in the neighborhood.

RUMOR CONTROL

A 16-year-old was wounded in a driveby shooting in County territory on Sunday, January 13. The shooting was in front of his home on Peck Road, not at a school.

A Canyon High School student was killed and another teen wounded in another shooting incident January 26, also on Peck Road.

A suspect has been arrested in the Jan. 13 shooting. Monrovia Police have also arrested two gang members as suspects in a shooting that took place on Cypress Avenue.

Investigations are continuing and arrests are being made as the recent flare-up of gang violence continues throughout the region.

Crime Scene responds.

When he was shot on Jan. 13, Day Day was bicycling just outside the grounds of Calvary Church and within a block or two of the Catholic School. CLARIFIED 13:25:52 1-30-08

Sammantha Salas, who was killed on Jan. 26,  attended Alhambra High School as was reported here yesterday and confirmed by district officials there. No arrest has been made in the shooting of Salas.

City News is reporting a new shooting in Monrovia in the 500 block of Almond Avenue occurred at 7:51 p.m. according to Sheriff's deputies. The victim, a man, died in a local hospital. Sheriff's homicide and Monrovia PD are investigating..

Wow

This occurred while the investigation at Mr. Rollins' house was taking place reporter and photog are en route although there may not be much left at the scene.

Some interesting notes that we will be developing throughout the day:

1. There some belief that Jose Garcia, the convicted killer of Deputy David March apparently lived in the apartment complex where Sammantha Salas was shot. It makes sense as it is only a short drive between there and the spot on Live Oak where March was murdered.

2. Who owns the apartment complex? What is their relationship with local authorities?

3. According to Rob Hammond, meetings between Monrovia officials, Duarte officials, police and sheriff's department and the school districts took place yesterday. What happened?

4. The condition of Sammantha Salas friend who was also shot Saturday night.

5. Your continued thoughts on the state of affairs and the ongoing racially motivated gang war in Monrovia.

By the Way I plan to keep this at the top of the page today so that commenting here will be easy for new readers

A letter writer informs us that a man was shot in the face at his home in West Covina on Bromley Street. The shooting occurred Jan. 23, the man died yesterday. The shooter is apparently in custody.

West Covina Police Department spokespeople forgot to mention this to us. But we found out anyway.

A lieutenant said he didn't know the details but would have someone get back to me.

update 8:20 p.m. 1/29/08

A police spokesman talked to reporter Brian Day and we'll have complete details on the web and in tomorrow's paper.

This from reporter Brian Day on the Trib cop desk: The sheriff's Department isn't saying much about the case. The victim hasn't been identified according to the coroner's office. And LASO hasn't even posted an update on their website.

Issac Campbell, accused of killing his girlfriend, stuffing her body in a trashcan and dumping the can in a friend's backyard appeared in court in Alhambra Friday ostensibly to enter a plea in the case.

There was no plea. Instead there was some in chambers discussions about the case, before Campbell was removed from court and returned to jail.

Campbell is accused fo killing Liya Jessie Lu, a nursing student who he met at PCC. Lu's family and friends have been following the case closely in both the local Chinese media and through the PCC student newspaper.

The photo is by Star-News staffer Walt Mancini. If you steal it, credit him.

This comes from WDN reporter Airan Scruby:

NORWALK - A man who allegedly stabbed his disabled cousin to death said he did so on orders from the Virgin Mary, according to an expert mental health witness.

Gray Maria, 23, was found incompetent to stand trial after testimony Tuesday from two psychologists. Maria was transferred to Patton State Hospital, where he will undergo treatment and report back to Commissioner Michael Schuur in 90 days.

"I don't think there's any doubt that he suffers from mental illness," Schuur said.

Maria has been jailed since June 2006, when he allegedly stabbed Victor Najera with a screwdriver. Najera, then 17, ran for help to a nearby McDonald's restaurant at 11755 Whittier Blvd. in Whittier, according to Sgt. Mitch Loman of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

Maria then allegedly went to his cousin's house in the 7300 block of Ridgeview Lane in the unincorporated area of West Whittier, Loman said.

He watched television with Mara Del Real, 19, who had cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair, and her older brother.

When the brother left the room, according to Loman, Maria stabbed Del Real with a knife, just hours after the first attack. She died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital.

This story comes from Sandra Molina in today's Whittier Daily News:

LONG BEACH - A Long Beach man released from custody after being identified as a suspect in the 1996 killing of a Whittier resident has been charged in that case, as well as in a fatal stabbing in Long Beach last month.

Jeffrey Means, 42, is accused of bludgeoning to death Hal Shaw, 48, on June 12, 1996, in the 7900 block of Newlin Avenue in Whittier, police said.

He also is accused in the stabbing death of Ronald Henry, 67, of Long Beach at a home in the 900 block of Dawson Avenue in that city on Dec. 19.

Means is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of special circumstances of multiple murders, two counts of murder in the course of a robbery, and two counts of residential robbery.

He is being held without bail by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Deputy District Attorney Karen Thorpe said Wednesday.

Means did not enter a plea, and his arraignment was continued to Feb. 5.

Because of the alleged special circumstances, he is eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

 

In February of 2005, ICE agents engaged in a “criminal alien program” seeking to deport illegal immigrants in the prison and jail system, said Kice. Tellez was serving time in Ventura County for drug possession and resisting arrest, according to court documents.

Days after the deportation, Tellez was caught trying to cross back into the United States south of San Diego, Kice said.

Tellez’s criminal history stretches back to 1992 when he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest. The same year he pled guilty to being a minor in possession of alcohol.

In 1994, Tellez was arrested by police in Oxnard on weapons charges. He pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon. That same year he also pleaded guilty to a charge of spousal abuse and was sentenced to 180 days in the Ventura County Jail, according to official records.

In 1999 Tellez was accused of violating a restraining order in a domestic case. Officials said they did not know if the restraining order involved Suzanne Jaramillo, the victim in Monday's murder-suicide.

Here's some John and Ken fodder.

Gustavo Tellez, the man who shot his wife to death in Whittier Monday before turning the gun on himself had been deported three times, ICE officials said today.

Additionally, Whittier police said they were called to victim Suzanne Jaramillo's home several times for domestic altercations between Tellez and Jaramillo. Apparently they never checked Tellez's status.

Reporter BRian Day will have the complete story later this evening.

The suspected killer of a Diamond Bar man was captured last week when the City Council decided to pour extra funds into a homicide investigation.

Not only did detectives end up nabbing Jae Yi, 24, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pasasouk, 23, both of Rancho Cucamonga, they also put 18 suspected burglars behind bars in connection with 22 burglaries.

Not a bad day's work.

Many of those arrested were part of a ring targeting Indians and Asians, officials said.

Yi and Pasasouk are facing a variety of charges stemming from the murder of Panalal Shah, who died during the burglary of his home Dec. 4

As for the rest of the group, none has been charged with burglary - yet. Most were picked up on violations ranging from outstanding warrants to probation and parole violations.

Even so, state Justice Department Assistant Chief Jerry Hunter's description of the ring was the most telling.

"There are killers and ruthless burglars who terrorized the San Gabriel Valley for months," Hunter said.

Perhaps it's time for Monrovia and Duarte to pull a page from the Diamond Bar playbook.

Monrovia and Duarte have been faced with a form of terrorism themselves - and not just over recent weeks. Commenters on the Crime Scene Blog say racial tension and gang violence have been routine in area neighborhoods for years.

Even Monrovia Chief of Police Roger Johnson recognizes the problem.

"It's not something that's new," Johnson said last week. "It's something that's continuing for the foreseeable future until we're able to bring under control the gang violence that's occurring in this particular neighborhood."

But the bangers aren't targeting each other this time. The gangs have turned on innocents who happen to be the wrong color.

One of those victims was Sanders "Pete" Rollins, 64, who was killed yards from the front door of his home on Sherman Avenue.

To its credit, the Monrovia Police Department coordinates an anti-gang task force with deputies from Duarte. But clearly, there is either no money to run the suppression full time or not enough personnel to staff the project, which is known as DAMAGE - Duarte and Monrovia Anti Gang Enforcement.

And, Johnson said his department has been providing additional patrols to the neighborhood.

But clearly, it was more than patrols and well-established units that solved Shah's murder.

After they secured the overtime money from the Diamond Bar City Council, detectives and patrol deputies worked across jurisdictional lines to crack the case.

They worked their informant network and known fences, and identified most of the known second-story men from Corona to Hacienda Heights.

After that, detectives got warrants and recovered stolen property ranging from passports to savings bonds.

In Monrovia on Monday, no one was available at the police station to talk about the Rollins investigation. It's not clear if they've employed any of the same techniques.

There was also no one on hand to address the ongoing spate of racial violence that claimed the life of one black man, Rollins, and severely wounded a black teen earlier the same weekend.

Why?

"Off for the holiday," according to one

dispatcher.

Here's the lede from Brian Day's story which will appear in tomorrow's editions of the Whittier Daily News.

WHITTIER — A man and woman were found dead in their apartment Monday following an apparent murder suicide, authorities said.
The deceased were identified by neighbors as a 32-year-old woman and her 33-year-old boyfriend. Officials withheld their identities pending notification of next of kin.
The bodies were found by a friend shortly before 12:50 p.m. in a second-floor apartment in the 7600 block of Newlin Avenue, said Whittier police spokesman Jason Zhulke.
The friend called police, and officers responded to the report as a domestic violence call, Whitter police Lt. Wyatt Powell said.
Officers found the bodies in the bedroom of the apartment, officials said.

Brian is also reportoing that a 12-year-old was in the apartmetn at the time of the shooting. it is believed the young man is the son of the dead woman.

Police refused to tell Brian if the man shot the woman before shooting himself or vice-versa. They did find a gun at the scene.

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Still tracking down a lot of the details. But the map above shows the relative locations of Whittier's two murder suicides this year.

We think the dead woman in the most recent case is Suzanna or Suzanne Jaramillo, 33. She apparently once worked for INS, but most recently was employed as a security guard. More details as they come into the newsroom.

The Whittier Police Department is investigating an apparent murder suicide in the 7600 block of Newlin Avenue. Not many details are available just yet. The bodies were discovered less than an hour ago. The couple apparently lived in an apartment building.

Both are said to have died from gunshot wounds. A gun was found at the scene, officials said.

This from the Associated Press:

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.—San Bernardino County authorities have arrested two young men for investigation of murdering a teen couple in an abandoned military bunker in the Mojave Desert.

The Sheriff's Department says 18-year-old Collin McGlaughlin of West Covina and 19-year-old David Smith of Covina were arrested Thursday night at their homes.

The bodies of 18-year-old Christopher Cody Thompson of Apple Valley and 16-year-old Bodhisattva "Bodhi" Sherzer-Potter of Helendale were found January 5th.

Investigators initially thought robbery was the motive but now say nothing was taken from the victims.

McGlauglin and Smith will make their first court appearances on January 22nd. A sheriff's spokeswoman says it's not known if they have retained attorneys.

UPDATED WITH PHOTO at 3:20 P.M. 1-18-07

Here's the photo caption:

Collin McGlaughlin, 18, of West Covina, has been arrested by the San Bernardino county homicide detectives in connection with the Jan. 5 shooting deaths of Christopher Cody Thompson, 18, of Apple Valley, and Bodhisattva "Bodhi" Sherzer-Potter, 16, of Helendale. 

This from Jan Williams.

Once again, the defense said they are not yet prepared and asked that the matter be postponed.  There will be another "check in" hearing on February 20, and the preliminary has been rescheduled for March 6.

The root of the Monrovia gang problem appears to be racial, according to city officials and others we interviewed for a story that will appear in Wednesday's Star-News and Tribune.

Here's the top of the story as it stands:

By Tania Chatila
and Frank C. Girardot
Staff Writers

MONROVIA — A spate of violence that left one man dead and a teenager wounded are acts of retaliation on the part of rival black and Latino gangs, authorities said Tuesday.
The activity in Monrovia continued late Monday when three men were shot at but not hit.
Police announced an arrest in the case Tuesday and acknowledged an increase in gang violence over the past several months.
“This is a particularly bad time,” Monrovia police Chief Roger Johnson said. “There are rival gangs going at each other. It’s a very bad time.”

Sources are telling us that a man suspected in the home invasion robbery on Overlook Ridge Road in Diamond Bar that went arwy in early December has been captured.

The man captured after a police pursuit is a suspect in the killing of Panalal Shah.

Here's what Brian Day has so far:

ROWLAND HEIGHTS — Deputies arrested a possible murder suspect after a pursuit that ended with the suspect’s vehicle flipping over, officials said.

The man is being investigated in the murder of 63-year-old Panalal Himatlal Shah at his Diamond Bar home during an apparent home invasion robbery, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. John Saleeby.

The chase began shortly before 1:40 p.m. when deputies spotted the suspect’s vehicle, Saleeby said.

After a minute-long chase, the suspect’s vehicle crashed and flipped over in front of 18501 Gale Ave, he said.

The suspect fled on foot, but did not make it far due to his injuries, said Saleeby.

Deputies arrested the man and took him to a hospital for treatment of injuries not believed to be life-threatening, he added.

Saleeby expected the suspect, whose name was not immediately available, would be booked on suspicion of murder Friday.

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 Tania Chatila is on the scene of the fatal shooting that occurred this a.m. in Rowland Heights. SHeriff's officials say at least three people were shot about 7:20 a.m. this morning.
View Larger Map

10:46 a.m. UPDATE

The shooting was an attempted murder suicide. A man apparently shot his 26-year-old daughter and 50-year-old wife before killing himself in the Rowland Heights incident. We now have a photographer on scene in the apparently gated community.

Steve Cooley's office put their statement on the Harris case up on the web this afternoon. It's the same statement handed out to reporters Tuesday. Here's the text:

LOS ANGELES – District Attorney Steve Cooley issued the following statement today on the murder of Monica Thomas Harris, victim in a family violence case:

“The tragic murder of Monica Thomas Harris is a matter of great concern to those of us in the District Attorney’s Office. 

“Yesterday I ordered an internal analysis of the circumstances leading up to the release of her estranged husband and murderer.  That investigation will continue and will determine whether there were any violations of office policy and/or failure to follow procedures established for these types of cases.

“The overall assessment will be conducted jointly by Head Deputy Victoria Adams of the Family Violence Division and the Director Pamela Booth who has oversight over the Pomona Branch Office.  They will report their findings directly to me.”

Just a little over a week into 2008 and there's been four homicides in the area, according to a variety of public records.

They've been added to the Homicide database on the right rail, we'll keep it going this year. I hope to finish the map portion of the database later this month.

For those innovative souls out there, feel free to link to the database.

The email below comes from Jan Williams, a Whittier mom and grandmother whose son Neal and two grandsons Devon and Ian, were killed in August at their apartment in Rowland Heights.

Man-ling (or Manling, or Man Ling) WIlliams, Neal's wife, and the children's mother is awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case later this month. Manling is suspected of stabbing her husband to death and smothering the children. Because the case contains special circumstances Manling could face the death penalty if convicted.

Here's Jan's note:

I copied this from the Parents of Murdered Children's website:  

"Big Turn Off-January 9, 2008: This is an annual event asking citizens to turn off their TVs for three hours during the prime-time segment of programming to protest TV violence. The average child, watching the average amount of television will witness 200,000 acts of violence by the age of 18. The goal of the Big Turn-Off is to empower people to object to what they find offensive and send a message that promotes non-violent programming."

As a parent and grandparent of murder victims, I have experienced first hand the way our society has become desensitized to violent crime.  People sometimes forget, when speaking about a recent murder, that this is a real tragedy that has happened to real people.  You wouldn't believe some of the things that complete strangers have felt free to ask me or the theories that they have pontificated.  Murder is not entertaining, and that statement needs to be reiterated over and over again until it is really heard.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Jan Williams

UPDATED: 6:32 P.M.

DA spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons asks for a correction and gets it. (See comment below.) A group of reporters gathered downtown were apparently handed a statement from DA Steve Cooley.

My bad. I won't go into the whys of why I wrote press conference. It wasn't. That's that.

CORRECTED ENTRY BELOW:

District Attorney Steve Cooley issued a statement Tuesday  to stem the tide of embarassment his office is suffering and announce that an internal investigation into the Curtis Harrris Monica Thomas-Harris murder suicide would begin.

Cooley said his office would investigate why prosecutors agreed to a stipulation in Harris' criminal  case that allowed him to go free, stalk his ex-wife and ultimately kill her and himself in a Whittier Motel Saturday morning.

We'll have more on the story in tomorrow's paper.

This a snippet from Wednesday's follow up story:

Jackie Harris spoke softly through the veil of her screen door in a small, quiet apartment complex in Chino. She said the situation between her son Curtis Harris and his estranged wife Monica Thomas-Harris was a tragedy and said her prayers go out to Monica's family and their grandchildren.

"My son died of a broken heart and handled it badly," she said.

Harris said her son didn't have a history of mental problems, nor was he ever under any kind of mental care.

"He was a good man and he just snapped, that's the only thing it could have been," she said.

Harris' mother said he was working a steady job, trying to buy a home for he and his wife, hoping to reconcile, but Thomas-Harris filed the police report and he couldn't handle it, she said.

"I think this whole situation was more than his heart could bear," Jackie Harris said.

The superior court judge who approved a deal that allowed Curtis Bernard Harris to be released from jail after he was convicted on a weapons charge in the kidnapping of his estranged wife Monica Thomas-Harris would not comment on the case Monday.

Harris, 34, of Chino and his wife Monica Thomas-Harris, 37, were found dead Saturday morning from gunshot wounds at a Whittier motel in an apparent murder suicide

Superior Court officials said the judge, appointed to the bench by Gov Arnold, was constrained from discussing cases she has heard.

Even though the victim's family is steaming mad about the whole thing, Harris' attorney said don't blame Judge Tia Fisher for the incident.

This from RL's story:

Arthur Lindars, said Harris asked for the month of freedom because he needed time to sell a couple of cars to raise money for his mortgage, so he wouldn’t lose his house while he was in prison.
Lindars said he did not believe Harris would try to harm his wife during the month he was out of jail.
“I’m sure the District Attorney’s office didn’t feel there was a danger either, or they wouldn’t have agreed to it,” he said.
Lindars, who called the scenario “everybody’s worst nightmare,” said the judge shouldn’t bear responsibility for the tragedy.
Since he and the District Attorney agreed to the release, the judge had no reason to deny it, he said.
“Whenever the DA’s office agrees to it, the judge 99 percent of the time will approve it,” Lindars said.

Meanwhile, Sandi Gibbons in the DAs office is saying don't blame prosecutors.

She said a prosecutor had a lengthy meeting with Thomas-Harris on the day the man was set free.
“We notified the victim that he was being released, as is our duty,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons said she did not know if prosecutors gave the woman any advice or instructions on how to stay safe from her husband during that meeting.

As you can guess, the victim's family is looking for answers.

“It’s unacceptable, it’s negligent,” said Teresa Motley, a cousin of the victim. “The justice system failed us.”

The complete story will appear in tomorrow's newspaper, as reported by Daily Bulletin staffer Rod Leveque.

The murder suicide in a Whittier motel Saturday morning leaves many questions in its wake about the criminal justice system and the protection of women who are threatened by their spouses or significant others.

The key lines in Jennifer McLain's story are at the bottom:

The couple were divorcing, and Harris, 34, had a history of holding her against her will.

On Nov. 16, Harris took her from a West Covina park to a hotel, where he handcuffed her and held her captive, according to Lt. Pete Mena of the West Covina Police Department. He later released her. The next day, he bound her with duct tape and threatened her with a stun gun, Mena said.

She escaped and reported both incidents to police.

Harris was arrested and pleaded no contest Dec. 21 to a false imprisonment and a weapons charge in exchange for a sentence of 16 months in prison, court records show.

Harris was granted a month of freedom before he began serving his sentence on Jan. 24. Thomas-Harris was not informed that her husband had been freed.

 

The Esotrouic folks will be back in the SGV Jan. 19, for their "Blood and Dumplings" excursion through our Valley.

Among the tour highlights, Alhambra, El Monte and San Gabriel. Interestingly enough the press release points out a Manson family connection to the San Gabriel Valley (Steven Parent). But neglects another Leslie Van Houten.

Maybe that's part of the Pasadena tour later this year.