Cellphone evidence, alleged history of abuse presented to jurors in Selina Bustos homicide case

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Testimony in the trial for a former Lompoc Police informant accused of killing his girlfriend in 2012 focused Friday on his alleged prior domestic abuse history and his cellphone activity the night Selina Bustos died. The informant is defendant Eduardo Robles Robles, 29, whom prosecutors contend fled to Mexico after allegedly killing Bustos, 30, in his Lompoc home June 15, 2012. Both the prosecution and defense in opening statements said Robles had been working as a Lompoc Police informant since 2009, although their claims about the alleged crime differ.

 The prosecution claims Robles took Bustos’ phone with him as he and a friend drove through Lompoc, Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara and sent a text message to his mother with the message “Mom, I’m on my way,” after Bustos was dead.  The defense maintains that someone else held the knife that stabbed Bustos 30 times and that Robles fled the country because he feared for his own safety. The defense attorney also claims evidence shows Robles only had his cellphone while traveling.

Read More from the Lompoc Record Here

How key evidence in Syracuse murder was handed over to cops – literally

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A Syracuse police detective described today how evidence in a Syracuse murder case was handed over unexpectedly. Hanza Muhammad, 26, was not found for two weeks after an Oct. 8. 2017 murder on Butternut Street. John White, 22, was shot to death shortly after midnight.

After the murder, detectives went to two residences in North Syracuse, looking for Muhammad, who was a suspect. He wasn’t at either residence. But the second location was the home of Muhammad’s girlfriend, Detective Kevin Birardi testified today. Muhammad had been living at the Maple Manor Drive residence for an unknown amount of time.

Prosecutors say the evidence shows that the girlfriend, Meghan Lamirande, gave police permission to search her home for Muhammad. His defense lawyer, Ken Moynihan, disputes that. Police searched the residence and didn’t find Muhammad. Afterward, Birardi said he had a conversation with Lamirande, who became belligerent.

Read More from Syracuse.com Here

Man found guilty in 2015 double-slaying in Newport News

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Newport News Circuit Court jury on Wednesday found a Surry County man guilty of killing two men outside a Denbigh apartment complex three years ago.

After a three-day trial, Tevin L. Johnson, 27, was convicted in the slayings of Adrian B. Holiday, 26, and Jeremy Taylor, 23, both of Newport News, on March 19, 2015.

A crucial piece of prosecution evidence at trial: Police body camera footage showing that as Taylor laying dying — and police officers and medics asked him who shot him — he told them that it was “Tevin Johnson.” When one officer thought he said “Kevin,” Taylor clarified that it was “Tevin with a T.”

“He literally used his last breaths — in his dying moments — to try to get justice for himself and his friend,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Jenkins told jurors. “You literally have a victim telling you who did it.”

It was about 4:45 p.m. when police were called to reports of gunshots at The Reserve at Deer Run, a subdivision off Jefferson Avenue, near Industrial Park Drive.

They found Holiday slumped over in the driver’s seat of a white SUV, shot in the back shoulder, the engine still running and his seat-belt on. Taylor was found on the ground nearby, three shots to his abdomen.

Read More from the Daily Press Here

He is accused of shooting randomly at passing vehicles. Now he will stand trial

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A Kerman man suspected of firing randomly at motorists along Highway 145 in November and December in west Fresno County will stand trial on five felony charges of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, a judge ruled Tuesday in Fresno Superior Court.

Jorge Javier Gracia also will stand trial on separate felony charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of a firearm or ammunition involving a Jan. 8 incident, Judge Houry Sanderson ruled.

In addition, Gracia will stand trial on a third case that accuses him of brandishing a gun at a motorist, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance, also on Jan. 8. Sanderson made her ruling after listening to a week’s worth of testimony at Gracia’s preliminary hearing that had more than 20 witnesses involving the three criminal cases.

Read More from the Fresno Bee Here

FBI: Cell phones connect Navin to parents’ murder

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Cell phone information collected by the FBI support the police theory that Kyle Navin shot his mother as she sat beside him in their garbage truck and then drove her lifeless body back to her Easton home.

Although Navin, who is charged with two counts of murder in his parents’ 2015 deaths, is still three weeks away from the scheduled start of his trial before a Superior Court jury, state prosecutors on Tuesday continued presenting evidence in the case before Judge Robert Devlin to dispel suppression motions filed by the defense.

Navin’s lawyer, Eugene Riccio, is seeking to keep from the jury four statements made by Navin as well as text messages between Kyle Navin and his father on the day he and his wife were killed.

Read More from the Laredo Morning Times Here