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Tag: special circumstance

  • Cal Fire captain faces five felony counts, including murder, in deaths of girlfriend and her son

    A Cal Fire captain is facing five felony counts in connection with the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her young son, according to a criminal complaint filed in El Dorado County Superior Court on Monday.Those charges against Darin McFarlin, 47, include two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 29-year-old Marissa N. Divodi-Lessa, of Shingle Springs, and her son Josiah Divodi-Lessa. Read the complaint here.The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has said that deputies responded to a report of a shooting at McFarlin’s home Thursday around 9 p.m. Marissa Divodi-Lessa was pronounced dead at the scene, while Josiah Divodi-Lessa died at the hospital. Another child was found safe in the home. McFarlin was detained in Mono County around midnight. The murder charges against him include special circumstances for multiple murders. They also allege the mother and her son were witnesses to a crime and killed for that reason. The court documents say the penalty for a conviction on those murder charges with the special circumstances would be death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to the complaint, McFarlin was also charged with the attempted murder of the second child and for injuring his girlfriend before her death. The complaint alleges that Mcfarlin injured his girlfriend in the bedroom “before she left the room and used her cellphone and before he obtained the gun and went out to the dining room to kill her.”The complaint also lists a felony child abuse charge in connection with the second child victim. McFarlin made an initial court appearance on Monday and pleaded not guilty on all counts. The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office said the next key court hearings will include a status update on Sept. 29 and a preliminary hearing on Oct. 16.A Cal Fire representative confirmed to KCRA 3 that McFarlin is a fire captain in the Amador El Dorado unitIf you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text ‘START’ to 88788.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. —

    A Cal Fire captain is facing five felony counts in connection with the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her young son, according to a criminal complaint filed in El Dorado County Superior Court on Monday.

    Those charges against Darin McFarlin, 47, include two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 29-year-old Marissa N. Divodi-Lessa, of Shingle Springs, and her son Josiah Divodi-Lessa.

    (Earlier coverage in the video above.)

    The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has said that deputies responded to a report of a shooting at McFarlin’s home Thursday around 9 p.m. Marissa Divodi-Lessa was pronounced dead at the scene, while Josiah Divodi-Lessa died at the hospital. Another child was found safe in the home.

    McFarlin was detained in Mono County around midnight.

    The murder charges against him include special circumstances for multiple murders. They also allege the mother and her son were witnesses to a crime and killed for that reason.

    The court documents say the penalty for a conviction on those murder charges with the special circumstances would be death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    According to the complaint, McFarlin was also charged with the attempted murder of the second child and for injuring his girlfriend before her death.

    The complaint alleges that Mcfarlin injured his girlfriend in the bedroom “before she left the room and used her cellphone and before he obtained the gun and went out to the dining room to kill her.”

    The complaint also lists a felony child abuse charge in connection with the second child victim.

    McFarlin made an initial court appearance on Monday and pleaded not guilty on all counts.

    The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office said the next key court hearings will include a status update on Sept. 29 and a preliminary hearing on Oct. 16.

    A Cal Fire representative confirmed to KCRA 3 that McFarlin is a fire captain in the Amador El Dorado unit

    If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text ‘START’ to 88788.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Mexico hands over fugitive wanted in 2008 killing of L.A. County sheriff’s deputy

    A man wanted in connection with the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in Cypress Park has been returned to the U.S. from Mexico to face charges.

    Roberto Salazar, 38, was arrested in March by Mexican authorities and transferred Tuesday into U.S. custody.

    “Justice has been a long time coming, but today we are one step closer,” Sheriff Robert Luna said during a news conference at the Hall of Justice on Wednesday afternoon.

    The L.A. County district attorney’s office will charge Salazar with first-degree murder with special circumstances and conspiracy to commit murder. He faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

    Salazar’s arraignment Thursday morning was postponed until Sept. 22 because he did not yet have a defense attorney. Appearing before Judge Theresa McGonigle, Salazar stood slightly stooped over in a glass-enclosed holding area with his hair buzzed and wearing an orange jail shirt.

    Two female relatives of Salazar who attended the hearing declined to comment, as did Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall, who appeared for the prosecution.

    Salazar was handed over along with 25 other prisoners described by U.S. and Mexican authorities as high-ranking drug cartel members. Mexico long ago abolished capital punishment and reportedly agreed to the mass prisoner transfer on the condition that none face the death penalty.

    Salazar’s case dates back to Aug. 2, 2008, when Juan Abel Escalante was shot in the back of the head as he was reaching to adjust a child’s seat inside his car outside his parents’ house as he readied to leave for his job at Men’s Central Jail.

    By December 2012, four of the six alleged members of the notorious Avenues gang that authorities accused of having been involved in the killing had been arrested and charged. That list included Carlos Velasquez, who was arrested in December 2008 and ultimately pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Authorities said Velasquez shot Escalante multiple times after mistaking him for a rival gang member.

    U.S. Atty. Gen. Pamela Bondi described the return of the 26 men as “the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations” in a statement Tuesday.

    Celeste Escalante, the widow of Juan Abel Escalante, and their daughter watch as pallbearers carry the deputy’s casket during funeral services on Aug. 8, 2008.

    (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

    Escalante and his family were living at his parents’ home in Cypress Park at the time of his slaying. He had served in the Army Reserve and had been working for the Sheriff’s Department for 2½ years.

    “My words go out to the Escalante family,” Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said Wednesday. “That relentess pursuit of justice is not over, but we are almost there.”

    Connor Sheets, Sandra McDonald

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