stabbing: January 2008 Archives

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.

 

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 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