Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Kathryn Montejano sentenced convicted murderer Joshua Stepp, age 30, to life in prison for the 2012 murder of 19-year-old Michael Avalos at a house in Lindsay. On June 18, 2019, a jury convicted Joshua Stepp, age 30, of second-degree murder with the…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Vanessa Macias, age 19, and Jesus Fernandez, age 18, in the shooting death of a 16-year-old male on October 18, 2019, in Earlimart. Both Macias and Fernandez are charged with one count of murder. Fernandez is additionally charged with one count of assault with a firearm.…
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Today in Department 3 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Nathan Leedy sentenced Gage Burros, age 19, to 12 years, 4 months in state prison for a number of violent crimes committed in 2018 and 2019. On August 23, 2019, Burros pleaded no contest to two separate cases. In the first case,…
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On October 8, 2019, at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, a California parole board issued a three-year denial for Darrin Little, age 55, for murder and sexual assault. On the morning of May 2, 1985, first responders were dispatched to a structure fire at a residence on South Spruce St. in Tulare. When they arrived,…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer sentenced Timothy McDarment, age 51, to life in prison for DUI murder that took the life of a one-year-old child and injured two adult women. On September 17, 2019, a jury found McDarment guilty of second-degree murder, gross…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Anthony Martin, age 20, following the shooting death of his 21-year-old girlfriend on the morning of October 5, 2019, in Visalia. Martin is charged with first-degree murder with the special allegation of intentional use of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, and possession of…
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On October 4, 2019, in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer sentenced both Isidro Gomez Reyes, age 25, and Alfred Gomez, age 22, to 82 years-to-life in prison for murder. On August 13, 2019, a jury convicted the men of first-degree murder and attempted murder with…
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On September 11, 2019, Criminal Investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Child Abduction Unit traveled to Kennewick, Washington, to recover two children taken by their mother, Yuridia Serrano Valdez, against a court order. The Investigators traveled with the children back to Tulare County and reunited them with their father. In June 2019, the…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer sentenced Mohamed Mohamed, age 22, to 9 years in prison for DUI. On July 30, 2019, Mohamed pleaded no contest to all charges filed against him by the District Attorney: felony mayhem, driving under the influence, driving with…
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On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, at Salinas Valley State Prison, the Office of the District Attorney, along with representatives of the victim’s family, attended a scheduled parole hearing for Cesar Navarro, age 42, for the 1998 murder of his wife. The Office of the District Attorney was prepared to argue for the maximum denial of…
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On September 11, 2019, at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, a California parole board denied the release of Jon Gregorich, age 45, for the 1994 murder of a Visalia man. Gregorich received a three-year denial. In the early morning of May 5, 1994, outside of the former Shagnasty’s bar in Visalia, Gregorich and…
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Late yesterday afternoon in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, a jury found Timothy McDarment, age 51, guilty of DUI murder that took the life of a one-year-old child and injured two adult women. McDarment was convicted of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony hit and run…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Cheyenne Wyllie, age 28, of Springville, to life in prison for a 2016 DUI crash that killed two and left another seriously injured. On August 9, 2019, Wyllie pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder against…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Gary Paden sentenced Juan Nevarez, age 35, to 38 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. Nevarez will also be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. On April 4, 2019, Nevarez pleaded no contest to one…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Manuel Mesa, age 40, in the DUI death of a female cyclist that occurred on September 11, 2019, in Visalia. Mesa is charged with one count of murder, one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and one misdemeanor count of driving while privilege suspended with…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone presiding, a jury found Andres Ybarra, age 35, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 26-year-old girlfriend. On the morning of July 1, 2016, the victim was found by emergency personnel at the couple’s home in bed. Ybarra…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges have been filed against William Stallworth, age 25, in the death of his two-year-old son that occurred on September 5, 2019. Stallworth is charged with one count of murder and one count of assault on a child causing death with the special allegation of willful harm or…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced murder and gun charges against Jorge Rivera, age 26, in the death of a Tulare County dairyman on September 3, 2019. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder with the special allegations of personal use of a firearm (handgun), one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm,…
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Today in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Anthony Fultz sentenced Orlando Benitez, age 31, of Lindsay, to 4 years and 4 months in prison for stalking female students while employed as a teacher and coach at Lindsay High School. On June 18, 2019, Benitez pleaded no contest…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Christopher Gonzalez, age 26, for the shooting murder of a man in Tulare on or about August 24, 2019. Gonzalez is charged with one count of first-degree murder with the special allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone presiding, a Tulare County jury found Steven Wing, age 66, of Visalia, guilty of four counts of sexual penetration of a child ten years old or younger and eight counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of…
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On August 14, 2019, at Folsom State Prison, a California parole board issued a 5-year denial for James Ray Kelley, age 49, for the 1998 murder of his mother near Waukena. On May 1, 1998, Kelley, age 28 at the time, went with his 66-year-old mother to a local store to cash her $597 Social…
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Late yesterday afternoon in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, a jury convicted Isidro Gomez Reyes, age 25, and Alfred Gomez, age 22, of murder. Each man was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder with special allegations that the crime was committed for the benefit of a…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Cheyenne Wyllie, age 28, pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder against Angelita Espinosa and Jamie Espinosa, as well as felony driving under the influence causing injury with the special allegation of causing great bodily injury. The crimes occurred on March…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Jazmin Paramo, age 24, for a DUI incident that took the lives of four people on August 4, 2019, on Highway 65 near Strathmore. It is alleged that Paramo was driving the wrong way on the highway and struck two motorcycles carrying the victims. Paramo is…
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