CA - Three killed, 2 injured in Craigslist carjacking, Downey, 24 Oct 2012

Two separate, but related shootings. Two people dead. The gunman is at large. This happened two hours ago.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...rge-after-shooting-five-people-in-downey.html

One victim was able to describe the shooter. Police said they are searching for a 30-year-old black male about 6 feet tall and 230 pounds. He is believed to be driving a carjacked 2010 black Chevy Camaro with the license plate 6LEA010 in which he fled.

According to local news, he opened fire at a business and at a nearby home. Police have no idea yet as to motive.

Information is very sketchy at this time.

Now six children are motherless.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...cf772c-1e4b-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_story.html


Somebody was way mad obviously. Maybe fraud within the business? Drugs? Is there gang activity there, Joe?

Police detain four in fatal Downey shooting rampage

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/downey-shooting-detain-questioning.html

Four people have been detained for questioning in connection with Wednesday's shooting rampage in Downey, which left three members of a family dead and two others injured, Downey police said.

“We have detained four people for questioning. We have not made an arrest yet,” Lt. Leslie Murray said in a brief interview at police headquarters..............

One Downey city councilman told The Times it was a drug-related hit..................more at link.....

Man held in Downey shooting rampage that left 3 dead, 2 wounded

A man matching the description of the gunman who shot five people -- killing three and critically wounding the others--at two locations in Downey is in custody, police said Thursday night.

Three others who had been detained and questioned by police earlier Thursday have been released, Lt. Dean Milligan said at a news conference. Police recovered a vehicle stolen from one of the victims by the gunman.

The three people killed were identified as Josimar Rojas, 26, of Downey; Irene Cardenas, 35, of Cudahy and Susana Perez-Ruelas, 34, of Downey, police said.

more at link ............... http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...ing-suspect-in-custody-police-id-victims.html

Police Detain 1, Seek Motive in LA Family Shooting

The gunman doesn't appear to be a former employee, friend or family member of the victims, Milligan said.

................ snip .......................

A portrait began to emerge Thursday of a tight-knit family who threw large parties and ran a successful company.

................. snip ......................

Richard Mercado, 36, a family friend, said he grew up with the two brothers who ran U.S. Fire Protection ................

................. snip ...........................

Property records show the business is owned by Robert Salinas, 35, and the house is owned by Antonio Salinas, 34.

.................. snip ..........................

A female secretary and a male employee were killed at the business,

................... snip ......................

full article at link ............http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...tive-la-family-shooting-17567428#.UIok0MXA-Hj.

Suspect arrested in Downey shootings identified

A family spokeswoman, Martha Zerehi, said the gunman responded to a Craigslist ad for a Chevrolet Camaro.

He drew a handgun and demanded the car, Zerehi said. The gunman was told that the car was not at the business but down the street at the family home. Perez-Ruelas and her son were ordered to drive the gunman in their truck to the home.

full article at link ............... http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/suspect-arrested-in-downey-shooting.html

Suspect a parolee with gang ties:

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-downey-shooting-suspect-a-parolee-m,0,583411.story?track=rss

He mercilessly gunned down two employees at the business, then forced one of the family members and her son to go with him to the house, where the car was located. He taunted the 13-yr old boy before shooting his mother and then him. The boy survived by playing dead. His mother did not.

An atrocious crime that deserves the death penalty. It's too bad that California voters may overturn capital punishment next week in the election. The polls are very close.

A new indictment has been filed that will streamline the trial process.

Jade Douglas Harris has been charged with murder, kidnapping, and carjacking. Special circumstance allegations could lead to the death penalty.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_23167978/new-indictment-filed-downey-triple-murder-case

From the article in the previous post:

Harris has a checkered criminal past that includes convictions for robbery and attempted robbery in 2005 and carrying a concealed weapon in 2003.

....and these peeps are free and out there to walk amongst us? :banghead:

http://www.kmov.com/story/28761189/...murders-linked-to-popular-classifieds-website

Law Street Media, a company launched in 2013, decided to take a deeper look into Craigslist to see how dangerous it really is...

The study by Law Street Media found 58 murderers and 45 murder victims connected to Craigslist postings since 2009...

JADE HARRIS - Trial was originally scheduled to begin December 2014. Has not happened.

Click to expand...

Court won't block death penalty trials despite moratorium

Sep 11, 2019

"The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block death penalty cases from proceeding during Gov. Gavin Newsom's moratorium on executions.

The justices rejected defense attorneys' arguments that jurors can't realistically gauge the seriousness of imposing a death sentence if they think it's never actually going to be carried out.

Newsom halted executions in March for as long as he remains governor, but the death penalty remains on the books and courts have been proceeding on the assumption that executions may one day resume.

Attorneys for two men separately facing trials in multiple slayings say it's unfair to ask jurors to consider what for now would be hypothetical sentences.

"In light of this paradigm shift, a California jury in a capital case cannot be expected to provide a fair and reasoned penalty phase determination free from speculation," defense attorney Robert Sanger wrote on behalf of his client, Cleamon Demone Johnson.

He is awaiting trial on five counts of capital murder and one of attempted murder. An appeals court said they were "six casualties of the gang wars between the Bloods and the Crips in the early 1990s."...

In July, the justices temporarily halted the case against Jade Douglas Harris. He could face a death sentence if convicted of charges that he killed three people and wounded a 13-year-old boy while stealing a car in 2012."

Calif. Supreme Court Refuses to Block Death Penalty

Man sentenced to death for triple murder in Downey; judge refuses to allow Gascon’s statement – Press Telegram

Jade Douglas Harris was sentenced to death for these murders. He will soon be transferred to San Quentin's death row where he will most likely die of old age many years from now. It is what it is...
Almost nine years from arrest to sentence!
But I'm glad a measure of justice was finally done here. What a monster.