‘We’re hurting’: Murder Charge Announced in Deputy’s Slaying as Fiancée, Family Grieve

September 22, 2023 By Keri Blakinger 3 Comments

Four days after Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot in the head, his fiancée fought back tears as she spoke publicly for the first time about the man she planned to spend the rest of her life with.

Brittany Lindsey’s fairytale engagement ended in a nightmare Saturday night when Clinkunbroomer was shot in the head while driving a marked patrol car near the sheriff’s Palmdale station.

“Ryan was the best guy I’ve ever met,” Lindsey said at a joint news conference Wednesday with Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón and Sheriff Robert Luna. “I am so happy I was able to love him. It was not long enough.”

Lindsey’s and Clinkunbroomer’s families joined the district attorney and the sheriff to announce murder charges against Kevin Cataneo Salazar of Palmdale.

Behind her, Clinkunbroomer’s family cried quietly, and solemn-faced deputies from the Palmdale station lined one side of the crowded room inside the Hall of Justice.

“We’re hurting right now,” Luna said. “The family is hurting, this department is hurting.”

Though the news conference was called to publicly announce a murder charge against Cataneo Salazar, officials were tight-lipped when it came to releasing additional details about the case.

In a courtroom in Lancaster earlier in the day, Cataneo Salazar pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in Clinkunbroomer’s fatal shooting.

The 29-year-old, whose family said he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, faces one count of murder with special circumstances of lying in wait, firing from a car and personal use of a firearm, a .22-caliber revolver, in the shooting, according to the criminal complaint.

Cataneo Salazar’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While prosecutors confirmed that the suspect had purchased a gun in the weeks before the killing, they did not clarify whether they believed he had purchased it legally. And though they acknowledged “unconfirmed” reports about his mental health history, they said the investigation was in the early stages and they were still collecting more documentation.

“We’re not being cagey; we’re simply protecting the integrity of the investigation,” Gascón said.

Though Luna said he hoped for “nothing less than the maximum punishment available under the law,” Gascón reiterated his past position on the use of the death penalty, seemingly confirming the ultimate punishment was not on the table.

“If I thought that seeking the death penalty was going to bring Ryan back to us, I would seek it without any reservation,” he said. “But it won’t.”

Gascón vowed not to seek the death penalty while running for district attorney in 2020. He made good on that campaign promise during his first day in office, when he barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in new cases.

Cataneo Salazar’s court appearance occurred as Clinkunbroomer’s body was escorted in a long procession of law enforcement motorcycles and marked patrol cars along the 10 Freeway from the county coroner’s office to a mortuary in Covina.

In Santa Clarita, Clinkunbroomer’s hometown, a memorial was set at the top of a 172-stair climb in Central Park, where a picture of the fallen deputy was being signed. The memorial was set to continue until sunset Wednesday.

A motive in the shooting is unclear, but Cataneo Salazar did not have a criminal record before his arrest Monday.

His mother, Marle Salazar, told The Times in an interview that her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia about five years ago and the family had struggled with his illness for years. She said her son attempted suicide at least twice and was hospitalized on at least two occasions because of mental health crises.

She said she and the rest of her family were not aware that Cataneo Salazar had in the last year legally purchased a firearm, which experts said he should have been prohibited from doing considering his mental health history.

Salazar said she and her family had tried to make sure that her son was not a danger to himself or others, including safeguarding the firearms owned by her husband. But she said she was surprised to learn, after the shooting, that her son had been able to purchase a gun.

Cataneo Salazar’s most recent hospitalization was in September 2021, around the time sheriff’s deputies were called to the family’s home for a welfare check.

A law enforcement source said Cataneo Salazar’s record indicates he was barred from purchasing a firearm in California until 2026, possibly because of the 2021 hospitalization. That has raised questions as to how the 29-year-old was able to legally purchase a firearm.

Prosecutor David Ayvazian said officials were requesting records regarding Cataneo’s mental health history and previous calls to his home from sheriff’s officials.

But authorities declined to offer more details on the case, including questions about whether Clinkunbroomer was specifically targeted by Cataneo Salazar and about law enforcement’s previous encounters with him concerning his mental health.

Luna, too, said some of the information was being withheld to maintain the integrity of the case.

“There is public interest in that, but right now, our priority is to get this individual prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he said. “We don’t want to put this out right now. And it’s not because we have something to hide. It’s because we need to get this individual prosecuted with the facts and evidence that we have.”

Asked about the special circumstance of lying in wait, prosecutors pointed to the video that shows a vehicle pulling up alongside Clinkunbroomer during the shooting.

“We believe the evidence is sufficient for conviction,” Ayvazian said. “If you’ve seen the video, and the way it’s been described as an ambush, that is consistent with the lying-in-wait theory of prosecution.”

Luna was asked about Cataneo Salazar’s mental health.

Click here to read the full article in the LA Times

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Palmdale Man Arrested in Ambush Killing of LASD Deputy; Suspect’s Family Blames Mental Illness

September 20, 2023 By Josh Cain 4 Comments

A man accused of ambushing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, killing him with a shot to the head as he sat inside his patrol vehicle, was arrested early Monday, Sept. 18, after an hours-long standoff at his home in Palmdale, Sheriff Robert Luna said.

While Luna described the suspect — Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29 — as a “coward” who likely targeted the deputy, 30-year-old Ryan Clinkunbroomer, because he was in law enforcement, Salazar’s family said the man was suffering from mental health issues.

“My brother did have schizophrenia,” said Yessica Salazar, the suspect’s sister, outside the family’s Palmdale house on Monday. “He had paranoia. He heard voices.”

She said the family had taken Kevin Salazar to the hospital before and tried to get him help. She said while his mental health issues did not justify the shooting and that she was praying for Clinkunbroomer’s family, she said her family wanted to give their side of the suspect’s story.

“Please don’t judge him as if he was a regular person,” Yessica Salazar said. “He is sick.”

Since Clinkunbroomer was found fatally injured inside his vehicle just steps from the Palmdale sheriff’s station on Saturday, Sept. 16, Luna and other officials have been searching both for the person behind the killing as well as the reason why they attacked the deputy.

Deputies surrounded Salazar’s home in the 37600 block of Barrinson Street starting in the early morning hours of Monday. After his family went outside, Salazar barricaded himself in the home and refused to leave, Luna said. At around 5 a.m., deputies fired tear gas inside the home, prompting Salazar to finally come out.

Los Angeles County jail records show he was arrested at 5:15 a.m. He was being held without bail. A law enforcement source, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case, said Salazar would be charged sometime in the next two days and was expected to appear in an Antelope Valley courtroom by Wednesday.

After Salazar was arrested, Luna said deputies found “numerous firearms” inside the home.

Salazar allegedly pulled up alongside Clinkunbroomer at around 6 p.m. Saturday after the deputy stopped his patrol vehicle briefly just outside the Palmdale Sheriff Station. Luna said Salazar suddenly opened fire on Clinkunbroomer, hitting him in the head, then sped off.

Luna said Salazar was the only suspect. He said someone came forward to the department to identify him Sunday after Luna spoke to the media. Earlier Monday, Luna said investigators were still trying to determine what led Salazar to allegedly shoot Clinkunbroomer. The sheriff heavily implied the deputy was targeted because he was a member of law enforcement.

“He was in a marked black and white, right in front of this station,” Luna said.

Neighbors who witnessed the standoff Monday morning described the scene as chaotic, with police vehicles and deputies suddenly packing their street before the sun came up.

Wilbur Cardona, who lives next door, said deputies evacuated him and his family.

“There was a lot of police activity over here, a lot of people with guns,” Cardona said. “It was scary.”

Cardona was familiar with Kevin Salazar, describing him as “a good person.”

“I would suspect nothing like that,” he said. “I wouldn’t see him doing such a thing.”

Clinkunbroomer worked for the Sheriff’s Department for eight years, serving at the Palmdale station since July 2018.

Clinkunbroomer, who went by “Clink” at the Palmdale Sheriff’s station where he’d worked since 2018, was described as caring deeply about his community.

“I could just see this light inside him,” said Raymond Wilson, 58, at a vigil held for Clinkunbroomer on Sunday. “He held this community in such regard and you could tell he wanted to make it even better. Safer.”

Clinkunbroomer was a third-generation member of law enforcement — both his father and grandfather also were deputies with the Sheriff’s Department. Family and coworkers said Clinkunbroomer had gotten engaged just four days before his death.

Click here to read the full article in the Press Enterprise

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‘Targeted and isolated’ Mass Shooting in S.F.’s Mission District Wounds 9

June 11, 2023 By Jordan Parker Leave a Comment

San Francisco police were seeking answers Saturday to a “targeted and isolated” shooting in the Mission District the night before in which nine people were injured during a community block party.

The victims of the mass shooting, which occurred just after 9 p.m. Friday near 24th Street and Treat Avenue, were transported to local hospitals.

“We can confirm there are 9 shooting victims — all are expected to survive their injuries,” SFPD said on social media. “At this time, the incident appears to be targeted and isolated. There is no known threat to the public at this time.”

At a news conference at the scene, police spokesperson Eve Laokwansathitaya said the shooting occurred during a street party. She said no arrests had been made. She said she could not comment on whether there was more than one shooter or whether the shooting occurred from a car. 

Three blocks on 24th Street were cordoned off with crime scene tape as investigators scoured the scene. A large group of investigators stood in front of a tent set up outside the Dying Breed clothing store, which had the block party Friday night at the time of the shooting. The store specializes in local clothing designs, graffiti supplies and parties and events.

Click here to read the full article in the SF Chronicle

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Davis Killings Renew Focus on Death Penalty

June 2, 2023 By Anita Chambria 4 Comments

In Yolo County, just west of Sacramento, the decision on whether to pursue the death penalty rests with one man, Dist. Atty. Jeff Reisig.

Of course, the same is true in California’s other 57 counties, where district attorneys ultimately make the call. But, as Reisig told me when I sat down with him recently, “It’s absolutely fair to say that in 58 counties in California, every D.A. probably does it differently.”

Reisig may soon be facing that decision yet again, for about the 30th time in his more than 16 years in office, in the case of the young man accused in a series of stabbings that terrorized the nearby college town of Davis. Over the course of a few days in April, two men were killed and a woman was knifed through the fabric of her tent, leaving her alive but in critical condition.

The suspect in the unexplained spate of violence is 21-year-old Carlos Reales Dominguez, a former UC Davis student who has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody in the Yolo County jail.

It’s the kind of frightening and inexplicable case that leaves many of us split on what justice could look like if Dominguez is eventually found competent to stand trial — especially in a state where the death penalty remains on the books but is impossible in practice since Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on it with an executive order in 2019 and shuttered the state’s death chamber at San Quentin State Prison.

So I asked Reisig how he’ll decide — and why.

Reisig can’t speak in specific terms about the Dominguez case, of course, but he was willing to walk me through the process he uses in general, and how both the law and the sentiments of Yolo residents weigh into it.

First off, he told me he doesn’t care about Newsom’s executive freeze.

In fact, Reisig said he considers it an authoritarian overreach for the governor to insert himself into the death penalty debate after voters in both 2012 and 2016 decided to keep the option on the books.

He points out that another governor could reverse Newsom’s order, though in dark-blue California, that is unlikely.

The moratorium “has no basis, no influence on whether or not I’m going to do my job,” Reisig said. “If the voters, you know, are given another chance on an initiative and they reject [the death penalty], so be it. That’s democracy. But what we’re living through right now, with the governor’s self-imposed moratorium, I think, is really not democracy.”

Reisig pointed out that only a few types of cases qualify for the death penalty — most commonly first-degree capital murder cases with a narrow set of special circumstances such as lying in wait or killing a police officer. So the first part of his decision is just running though the law to see if a case qualifies.

On the surface, this case could, given the charges. But at a recent hearing, a judge ordered a mental competency evaluation for Dominguez, who unsuccessfully asked to represent himself. That first competency hearing is set for June 20 and will likely begin a lengthy process of determining his fitness for trial.

For Reisig, if a suspect is determined to have a mental illness that played a significant role in the commission of the crime, he won’t pursue capital punishment.

He considers it “profoundly” wrong to seek the death penalty for someone who can’t understand their actions, which seems obvious.

But I promise you some D.A.s would contest a finding of mental incompetency no matter what.

If the mental competency is there and the case qualifies legally, Reisig begins his own internal investigation that looks not just at the crime, but circumstances that make it worse than the average capital murder (aggravating factors), as well as mitigating factors such as whether the person was under duress that may offer some explanation.

He also considers the “special K” evidence, named after its position in the applicable penal code, that’s basically a catch-all for anything else that’s relevant.

“And for that, you literally go back to birth,” he said. “You look at, has this person demonstrated violence throughout their life? Are they a Charles Manson kind of guy? Or is it just like a one and done?”

Interestingly, while a D.A. can consider age in the final decision, age isn’t considered a mitigating factor — meaning suspects don’t get a break just because they’re youthful.

“Just the fact that somebody is young, in their 20s or whatever, does not mean by law that [they’re] not eligible for or not appropriate for the death penalty,” he said.

Once all that evidence is gathered, he brings together his top advisors and they hash it out. “We talk about it, we debate it,” he told me. “We dig, we ask more questions. Sometimes those conversations can take hours, sometimes it’s days, sometimes we’re thinking about it over, you know, weeks.”

But once that team makes a recommendation, “I make the decision,” he said.

Part of that final call is whether he thinks he can win at trial.

Reisig calls Yolo “the most liberal county from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.”

That’s one of the reasons that in his nearly two decades as its top prosecutor he has chosen to pursue the death penalty only one time: in the 2008 murder of Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz (though he inherited a death penalty case from his predecessor too).

“That’s come up a lot, where the case on its face, we all can look at it and say, ‘Yeah, this guy is really the extreme. Like he’s a psychopath. This is terrible. He meets all the statutory elements.’ But will a jury of Yolo County folks go for that? And that, I mean, that changes county to county, right?”

Reisig said that because “people have such entrenched views” on the death penalty, it can be hard to even seat a jury on a capital case.

He points out that, legally, a juror has to be willing to consider either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. “Well, good luck,” he said of finding jurors open to weighing both.

“People come in and they’re like, ‘No, I will never vote for the death penalty,’ or ‘This guy, this person should always get the death penalty,’” he said. “And so I don’t want to pursue a death sentence on somebody that I know, based on my experience, I have no chance of getting 12 people to agree.”

In the case of Diaz’s murder, Reisig won a death penalty conviction in 2011 against Marco Topete after a jury deliberated for days. Reisig said he and the defense team screened more than 600 jurors before seating their panel — a tough task in a county of about 200,000 people.

In the case he inherited from a previous district attorney, the 2005 killing of CHP Officer Andy Stevens, the jury took only two days to decide on death for Brendt Anthony Volarvich, then 22 and a member of a white pride gang called the Peckerwoods.

Before I left, I asked Reisig if he is for or against the death penalty, and he told me it’s not about his personal beliefs, though “if the people voted to do away with the death penalty, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

Personally, I am against it precisely because there’s so much discretion in how it is applied. How can we ever feel confident it’s fair, regardless of the moral debate?

Support for the death penalty has fallen dramatically across the country, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, as have the number of executions and death sentence convictions.

In 1999, executions reached their highest annual number with 98 people put to death.

Death sentences peaked a few years earlier in 1996, with 315.

Click here to read the full article in LA Times

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California Bill Will Release Death Sentenced Murderers After 20 Years

April 13, 2023 By Michael Rushford 10 Comments

These are murderers who killed multiple victims or killed in concert with a rape, robbery, kidnapping or torture

The California Senate Public Safety Committee voted on a bill Tuesday to give the state’s worst murderers, who have been sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole (LWOP), the opportunity to have their sentences invalidated and make them eligible for parole.

Senate Bill 94, authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Santa Clara), specifies that criminals convicted of murder with special circumstances before June 5, 1990, and sentenced to death or LWOP would be provided with a public defender to petition for recall and resentencing. The bill would authorize the court to modify the murderer’s sentence to impose a lesser sentence and apply any changes in law that reduce sentences or provide for judicial discretion, or to vacate the murderer’s conviction and impose judgment on a lesser included offense.

Among the murderers who could apply for a sentence reduction and possible release is Tiequon Cox, who in 1984, went to the wrong Los Angeles home for a gang-revenge killing and murdered a mother, her daughter and two of her grandchildren. Cox was sentenced to death for these crimes. In 2004, while on death row, Cox stabbed another condemned murderer and, along with three other murderers, cut a hole in the San Quentin fence and nearly escaped.

Co-authors of SB94 include Democrat Senators Josh Becker (D-San Mateo), Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and Assemblywoman Corrie Jackson (D-Riverside) and Assemblywoman Akilah Weber (D-San Diego).

The beneficiaries of this measure, if passed, will be criminals convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances. These are murderers who killed multiple victims or killed in concert with a rape, robbery, kidnapping or torture. While it would seem unthinkable for any legislator, let alone a group of them, to want their names on a bill that would allow murderers like these to go free, bear in mind that Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, Alameda County DA Pamela Price and California Attorney General Rob Bonta all support setting murderers free after 15-20 years in prison.

Click here for the full article in California Globe

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CHP Looking for Information Into Fatal Milpitas Freeway Shooting of 5-year-Old Girl

April 11, 2023 By Zach Fuentes Leave a Comment

MILPITAS, Calif. (KGO) — The California Highway Patrol is looking for information into the deadly freeway shooting of a 5-year-old girl on Saturday in Milpitas.

It happened on I-880 near Dixon Landing Road while the family was on their way to dinner.

The young girl’s family tells ABC7 that Eliyanah would have turned six on April 21. Her family has asked ABC7 to withhold her last name due to their own safety concerns and we have done that.

Friends say that the 5-year-old and her family were on their way to Outback Steakhouse in Milpitas Saturday.

Just before 7 p.m., as they drove along I-880, a vehicle pulled up and someone inside that car started shooting.

“We had an officer that was on an unrelated traffic stop on the side of I-880 in the vicinity of Fremont area, approached about 6:40 p.m. by the victim’s family,” said CHP Lt. Shawna Pacheco. “They said that their daughter had been shot. So the 5-year-old girl was transported to a local area hospital and unfortunately succumbed to her injuries.”

The CHP is still investigating and has not released any information on a suspect.

This was just one of two separate shootings that multiple agencies across the East Bay and South Bay are investigating.

Before the deadly shooting that killed Eliyanah, Fremont police said they were contacted by a pedestrian who said that a car pulled up to them and shot at that person after some kind of confrontation. That call came in at 6:37 p.m.

Hours later, after a pursuit on Highway 17, Santa Cruz police stopped a car with three people they believe were connected to the Fremont shooting.

All three were arrested.

RELATED: Jasper Wu case timeline: A 13-month investigation into Oakland freeway shooting death of toddler

The CHP is not making any connection at this time, between the Fremont shooting and deadly freeway shooting.

Santa Clara University Professor Dr. Thomas Plante says there really isn’t a particular profile of someone who might shoot in a public place like a roadway.

“Certainly, impulse control is a variable. Another variable is people who are influenced by those around them, egging them on to do something,” he said. “The third is people that don’t have any feel for other people, lack of empathy for variety of reasons, that just doesn’t seem to be part of their skill set.”

As for 5-year-old Eliyanah, her family says she was looking forward to Easter and was excited about her upcoming birthday.

She was close to her siblings, especially her brother who was only 11 months in age apart from her.

CHP urges anyone with dashcam footage or other information to come forward by calling its tip line at 707-917-4491.

Friends of the family have started a GoFundMe page for those interested in helping.

Click here to read the full article in ABCNews

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A look at homicides in SF this year, in light of Cash App founder Bob Lee’s stabbing death

April 8, 2023 By Leanne Melendez Leave a Comment

Because this is a high-profile case, the police department is giving Cash App founder Bob Lee’s case a lot of attention. But what about the other homicides this year?

There have been 13 reported homicides in San Francisco so far, according to police records.

The latest one, which has received the most attention, took place on April 4. The victim, Bob Lee, a tech executive. It remains unsolved.

To be fair to the families, we took a closer look at the other 12 cases.

INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker

Gavin Boston, a 40-year-old security guard, was killed on Jan. 4 just outside the Japan Center Mall. Two teenage boys, 14 and 15, were arrested in connection to the killing that came as Boston escorted one of them out of the mall.

Police have been able to solve two other homicide cases this year. One took place in the Excelsior District in January, the other in the Hunters Point neighborhood in February. Two people were arrested for those two separate crimes.

Three more murders occurred in March, but the victims remain unidentified.

Another homicide on April 1 in the Tenderloin also remains open and active.

Judy Solem and Don Carr’s son, Samuel St. Pierre, is not one of the 2023 homicides. The 32-year-old was shot and killed on June 19, 2022 in the Marina District while visiting San Francisco. A surveillance camera captured the suspect’s car yet no one has been arrested. There is a $50,000 reward for any information.

“The car pulled up,” Carr said. “He went over. They had some brief conversation through the driver’s side. He backed up and they shot him twice.”

Between 2000 and 2008, San Francisco investigators had an abysmal record when solving homicides and arresting suspects. But in 2009 and the following years, the clearance rate improved, reaching a high in 2018 of 96 percent. By 2021, the last year this data is available, the solved-case rate was 75 percent.

Why? It may be due to staffing levels.

There were 2,306 sworn officers in 2018, when the clearance rate was so high. In 2021, that number went down to 2,129.

“I’m sure they’re overwhelmed and doing all they can but you put yourself in our shoes. You are never going to think it’s enough until it’s solved, said Carr.

Is San Francisco’s violent crime as “horrific” as tech execs claim? Data shows the City by the Bay has problems like many others across the country. But the statistics don’t support the claims many are putting online. Go here for the full report.

Click here to read the full article at ABC News

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In NYC, More Criminals Are Free, Producing More Crime

April 1, 2023 By Jim Quinn 2 Comments

At long last, it seems some Democrats are realizing how destructive their criminal justice reforms can be. Last week, Mayor Adams called on the Legislature to meet for a special session to revisit the 2019 reform that sharply limited the use of cash bail. Amid rising crime and the seasonal summer spike in violence, Adams seems to understand that letting large numbers of arrestees walk free before their trial is partly to blame.

The latest NYPD statistics show that overall crime in New York City is up more than 37% over the last year. This should be no surprise to anyone keeping an eye on the Legislature’s mismanagement of the jail population. When bail reform was passed in New York in April of 2019, the number of inmates in NYC jails stood at 7,809. Eight months later, by the time it became fully effective, more than 2,000 inmates, most of them career criminals with long criminal records had been released from city custody with little to no supervision.

Almost immediately, crime began its now-historic rise. After 27 years of steady reductions in the rate of crime, 2020 saw increases in crime that have not been seen in decades. By mid-March of 2020, even before the COVID pandemic became a factor, overall crime in NYC had risen 20% year-to-date over the same period in 2019. Burglary was up 26.5%, car theft 68%, grand larceny 15.8%, and robbery 33.9%. In the last full year before bail reform (2019), there was a 1.1% decline in crime for the full year.

Nor was this a fluke. When you compare the crime rates for the first two-and-a-half months of 2019 (before bail reform) to the first two-and-a-half months of 2022 (two-and-a-half years into bail reform), the crime rate rose 36.6%, with significant hikes cross the various index crimes — the eight main crimes used by the FBI to measure overall criminal activity.

In the face of this chaos on the streets, criminal justice advocates have sought additional ways to reduce the population of city jails, a necessity if the city is to close Rikers Island and replace it with borough-based jails with a maximum capacity of 3,300 inmates. To meet that limit, 2,300 inmates currently in the jail system must be released, a concerning prospect when crime is rising, and 74% of the inmates currently held pretrial are being held on violent felony charges. 94% are being held on felonies.

The push to end systemic racism has not only resulted in Black people constituting a higher percentage of inmates on Rikers Island than before bail reform (from 55.3% pre-reform to 58.8%), but also has unleashed a deadly crime wave that is most significantly affecting the poor and people of color. Black people and Hispanics constitute 48.5% of the city’s population, but account for 90.7% of murder victims, 96.9% of shooting victims, 71.5% of robbery victims, 79.8% of felony assault victims, 52.8% of grand larceny victims, and 75.5% of misdemeanor assault victims.

Data released by the state’s Office of Court Administration pursuant to the 2019 reforms show that the people for whom bail would have been set under the old law — those with prior or pending cases and who also showed that they were a flight risk — are driving the increase in crime, at least in the non-violent felony and misdemeanor categories where judges cannot set bail. Half of the felony defendants who were released on non-monetary release, the city’s alternative to bail, get re-arrested while their case is pending. The re-arrest rate is 70% for commercial burglary, grand larceny, and robbery. It is 62% for home burglars, 79% for shoplifters.

Click here to read the full article in the Daily News

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Handyman Confesses to Killing L.A. Bishop David G. O’Connell, District Attorney Says

February 24, 2023 By Rebecca Ellis, Salvador Hernandez, Rachel Uranga, 2 Comments

A 61-year-old man who prosecutors said has admitted that he killed Bishop David G. O’Connell was charged Wednesday with one count of murder in the shooting death of the much lauded religious leader.

Carlos Medina, a handyman whose wife worked as a housekeeper for the bishop , also faces a special allegation of using a firearm during the crime, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced during a news conference Wednesday. If convicted, he could face 35 years to life in prison.

In detailing the charges, Gascón said Medina admitted to the killing to investigators.

“I know this has been a shock for our community,” Gascón said. “This was a brutal act of violence against a person who dedicated his life to making our neighborhoods safer, healthier and always served with love.”

Medina is accused of killing the 69-year-old priest Saturday in his Hacienda Heights home, where he lived alone.

“His loss is one that I really feel will be felt for years to come,” Gascón said. “Charging Mr. Medina will never repair the tremendous harm that was caused by this callous act.”

O’Connell was found dead Saturday in his bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds, Gascón said.

In an interview, Gascón said O’Connell was likely asleep when the shooting occurred.

“By all counts, Bishop O’Connell was a saint for Los Angeles,” he said.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said the firearm involved was a small-caliber weapon and that O’Connell’s wounds weren’t clearly visible to the deacon who first discovered the bishop’s body.

According to the sources, the bishop was shot five times.

Neighbors said they heard no gunshots or unusual noise coming from the home until deputies and paramedics descended on the quiet neighborhood just before 1 p.m. Saturday.

Medina was taken into custody at his Torrance home Monday, after he barricaded himself for some time. Inside, investigators recovered two firearms, including a .38 caliber handgun that detectives suspect he used to kill O’Connell, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Investigators were led there two days after the slaying, aided by a tipster who told officials that Medina had been acting strangely since the killing, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday after announcing the arrest.

Surveillance video also showed a “dark, compact SUV” — believed to belong to Medina — at O’Connell’s home at about the same time the killing took place, Luna said.

Medina appeared briefly in court Wednesday afternoon, where Judge Armenui Amy Ashvanian set bail at $2.3 million.

A Spanish language interpreter relayed the court proceedings to Medina, but he did not speak during the short court appearance.

His arraignment was scheduled for March 22.

Officials have yet to disclose what may have motivated the killing. After announcing Medina’s arrest, Luna said the tipster who pointed law enforcement to the suspect said Medina had claimed that the bishop owed him money related to his work as a handyman.

Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Modica said that when Medina was interviewed, he provided several reasons for the killing, but “none of them made sense to the investigators.”

“We don’t believe there’s any validity to the owing of money,” he said, referring to the motive suggested by the tipster.

Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said in a statement to The Times that Medina “is presumed innocent and entitled to a vigorous defense.”

“We are sensitive to the impact this case has had on our community but at the same time caution against any rush to judgment, either by the public or the media, until all the facts are established in court,” the statement said.

Deputy Public Defender Pedro Cortes, who was assigned to represent Medina in court, did not respond to a request for comment.

Medina has a lengthy history of personal drug use arrests and convictions from 2005 to 2017, and detectives are investigating whether he had been using narcotics at the time of the killing, according to law enforcement sources.

Medina has narcotics arrests in 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2017, according to law enforcement officials not authorized to discuss his criminal history. At least two of the convictions were for drug possession, but the handyman did not have a history of violent arrests.

In the unincorporated Torrance neighborhood where Medina and his wife rented a two-bedroom yellow stucco home, neighbors said the couple led quiet, ordinary lives and were friendly with their neighbors.

“He never said anything offensive,” said Francisco Medina Lopez, 74, a neighbor who said he was friendly with Medina. “It’s so strange.”

Medina, who walked with a limp, was often seen tinkering on his cars or working on his yard, neighbors said. His wife was a fixture in the neighborhood who was frequently observed walking a large white dog that residents said belonged to the bishop.

The two neighbors would occasionally drink beers or share meals together, making small talk while listening to ranchera music.

Although Medina’s wife worked for the bishop, Medina Lopez said the couple didn’t seem particularly religious and didn’t bring it up in conversations or decorate their home with Catholic objects and images.

But Medina Lopez said he always thought well of his neighbor, who would sometimes give him a ride to the swap meet or nearby stores.

“He was your average older man, always talkative and in a good mood,” said Luis Lopez, who lived in a home behind the Medinas’ home. “He was a regular common man.”

After news of the bishop’s death spread, about a dozen people stood with candles and prayed the rosary Saturday beside police tape near his home.

O’Connell, who earned the title of bishop in 2015, was a “peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant,” Archbishop José H. Gómez of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement Sunday.

“He had a passion for building community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected,” the statement by Gómez read. “He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will.”

Born in County Cork, Ireland, O’Connell studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained in 1979, according to the archdiocese.

He served as associate pastor at several parishes in Los Angeles, including at St. Frances X. Cabrini in South Los Angeles for 14 years. He then became pastor of Ascension, where he oversaw a congregation of about 4,000 families and two schools with about 500 students.

In the neighborhoods he served, he was known as a calming intermediary, especially after the 1992 riots. The Catholic News Agency reported at the time that O’Connell, not yet a bishop, worked at trying to rebuild trust between police and the South L.A. community.

He also served as founder and chairman of the interdiocesan SoCal Immigration Task Force, which helped children who had entered the United States without adult companions.

“He was the help of the helpless and the hope of the hopeless,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn Monday during an emotional news conference.

Gómez fought back tears and his voice cracked Monday as he called O’Connell “a good friend of Los Angeles.” He recalled the bishop’s fluent Spanish, tinted with a Irish accent.

Click here to read the full article in the LA Times

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LA Bishop Shot to Death in Hacienda Heights Was Murdered: LASD

February 20, 2023 By Staff Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. – A man killed in a shooting in Hacienda Heights Saturday has been identified as an Auxiliary Bishop with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop David O’Connell was killed in the shooting that happened just before 1 p.m. at a home in the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue. 

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, O’Connell was shot in the upper torso, and pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said they are investigating O’Connell’s death as a murder.

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“It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” Archbishop José Gomez said in a statement.

O’Connell, 69, was a native of Ireland and had been a priest and later a bishop in Los Angeles for 45 years, Gomez said. Gomez called him “a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected.”

“He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will. Please join me in praying for Bishop Dave and for his family in Ireland. May Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap him in the mantle of her love, and may the angels lead him into paradise, and may he rest in peace.”

At the time of his death, O’Connell was vicar for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles‘ San Gabriel Pastoral Region, a post he had held since 2015 when Pope Francis appointed him as an auxiliary bishop for the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

O’Connell had previously served as associate pastor at St. Raymond Catholic Church in Downey, St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Long Beach, and St. Hilary Church of Perpetual Adoration in Pico Rivera, and then as pastor of St. Frances X. Cabrini, Ascension, St. Eugene and St. Michael’s parishes, all in Los Angeles.

O’Connell was born in County Cork, Ireland. He studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained to serve in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1979, according to Doris Benavides, associate director of media relations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

As chairman of the interdiocesan Southern California Immigration Task Force, O’Connell helped coordinate the church’s response to immigrant children and families from Central America in recent years. He also sponsored the enrollment of several young immigrants in Catholic schools, several of whom have advanced to college.

He served as a member of the Priest Pension Board and on the Together in Mission Board as well as the Archdiocesan Finance Council, the archdiocese said. He was a longtime member of the Council of Priests and a Knight of Peter Claver.

At the national level, he was chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In September, O’Connell was honored with the Evangelii Gaudium Award from St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, “for his selfless service to the community and the Church in L.A,” Benavides said.

At the national level, he was chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

There was also an outpouring of shock, sadness and remembrance on Twitter and other social media from people who knew and worked with O’Connell.

“This is L.A. Aux. Bishop David O’Connell, with one of my young clients,” immigration attorney Linda Dakin-Grimm wrote on Twitter alongside a photo. “Bishop Dave … was there for every child and family I have represented. Always. Helping, supporting and generally being the face of Jesus for me and many many others.”

Norma Seni Pimentel, executive director for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, also shared a photo of herself and O’Connell.

“Bishop David O’Connell, truly a man of God! Your sudden departure has left us extremely sad. May you rest in peace Bishop O’Connell,” Seni Pimentel tweeted.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, a columnist and an editor-at-large of National Review Online, tweeted, “Goodness was I blessed to get to know him. God rest his beautiful soul.”

Bishop Robert Reed of Boston also shared a photo on Twitter of himself with O’Connell.

“Through the mercy of God, may the soul of this good priest and bishop rest in peace.  Amen,” he wrote.

Click here to read the full article in FoxNews

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