WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a letter calling on Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley to oversee the investigation into the brutal murder of Ally Steinfeld. HRC called on the attorney general to take action due to statements by Missouri’s Texas County Sheriff James Sigman and prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. which suggest…
A Nov. 14 preliminary hearing has been set for Brandon Kyle Cooper, 36, who is charged with murder in the Memorial Day stabbing of Spencer Thompson, 38, who collapsed from a stab wound in the 2800 block of University Avenue in North Park. The family of Thompson told a television station they believed it was…
A man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy and strangled him 30 years ago was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Russell Taylor, now 56, said nothing before San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth sentenced him for the April 28, 1987, murder of Dewan Emerson, whose body was found…
A judge has committed Jon David Guerrero to a state psychiatric facility after he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in four murders of three homeless men including one man who attended Metropolitan Community Church and one woman. San Diego Superior Court Judge Margo Woods read the psychiatric report on Guerrero, 40, and committed…
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A judge suspended criminal proceedings Friday (July 14) against Jon David Guerrero in the murders of four homeless people including a man who attended the Metropolitan Community Church. San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth set a mental competency hearing for July 24 by another judge for Guerrero, 40, in which…
NEW YORK— Monday, Joshua Vallum was sentenced to 49 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Mercedes Williamson, who was transgender. His sentencing marked the first application of the federal hate crimes law for the murder of a transgender person and, following the news, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the tragedy in…
A fourth murder was charged Tuesday against Jon David Guerrero who is accused of killing three homeless men, but this homicide has a different pattern from the 11 other attacks. Molly Simons, 83, was walking to a bus stop in North Park in the early morning hours of July 13, 2016 when a man on…
SAN DIEGO – A judge has determined Jon David Guerrero is mentally competent to stand trial for three bizarre murders of homeless men in Ocean Beach, Mission Bay and downtown. San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen confirmed a psychiatric hospital’s finding that Guerrero is competent and criminal proceedings resumed in his March 20 ruling….
A psychiatric hospital has made a finding that Jon David Guerrero is mentally competent to stand trial for three bizarre murders of homeless men including one who attended Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). Guerrero, 39, appeared Wednesday (Feb. 1) before San Diego Superior Court Judge Margie Woods for a judicial ruling of his mental competency, but…
For the first time since its passage in 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been used to bring charges for targeting a victim because they were transgender, reports Robin Maril on the HRC Blog. This Act expanded existing federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by bias against the…
