Month: December 2025

City News Service

MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – A jury was seated today for the mental competency trial of a man accused of ambushing and killing a 30-year-old Riverside County sheriff’s deputy responding to a domestic violence call.   

Jesse Ceazar Navarro of Lake Elsinore is charged with murder of a peace officer, attempted murder of a peace officer, special-circumstance allegations of killing a law enforcement official and lying in wait, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, for the January 2023 death of Deputy Darnell Calhoun.

Jesse Navarro

Based on a battery of psychiatric evaluations in 2023 and 2024, his attorney petitioned the court for a mental competency trial, also known as a Penal Code section 1369 trial, and Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson last year found there were grounds to proceed with one.

Since September, jury selection has been underway, off and on, at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. On Thursday, Dickerson swore in a panel to hear the matter, which will mostly focus on whether the defendant was mentally fit at the time of the alleged crime and understood what he was doing.

Opening statements are slated for Monday morning.

If Navarro is found incompetent to stand trial on the felony allegations, his case would be referred to correctional health, and he’d likely be committed to a state hospital for treatment on a timetable determined by the court.

He’s being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.   

According to a sheriff’s arrest warrant affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Calhoun went to a residence in the 18500 block of Hilldale Lane, near Grand Avenue, at about 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2023, after 911 dispatchers received a call indicating a domestic altercation at the location, without certainty because the caller abruptly hung up.   

Calhoun arrived alone in his patrol vehicle and “contacted several individuals in the driveway of the residence,” according to the affidavit.   

“Navarro partially concealed himself behind an open door of his (pickup) truck, holding a handgun out of sight of Deputy Calhoun,” the document stated. “Within 17 seconds of Deputy Calhoun arriving on scene, Navarro began shooting at him. Navarro fired multiple rounds at Deputy Calhoun, (who) fled on foot. Navarro then entered his truck, drove in the direction that Calhoun had fled and continued to fire at him from the truck.”   

The affidavit revealed Calhoun fired back at the defendant, but “none of the rounds appeared to injure him.”   

The lawman was hit several times and collapsed in the street. He was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A backup deputy engaged Navarro in a gunfight within a couple minutes of Calhoun’s “deputy under fire” call, wounding the defendant. The responding deputy wasn’t injured.

Navarro has since fully recovered.   

Calhoun is survived by his widow, Vanessa, and young sons Russell, Troy and Malcolm.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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Jesus Reyes

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Three young men accused of opening fire on a crowded Thermal home, firing numerous rounds in a drive-by attack that continued even after sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate, were charged today with multiple counts of attempted murder and other offenses.

Eric Orozco Diaz, Guillermo Alexander Martinez and Gustavo Isbojet Barrera Pena, all 18 and from the eastern Coachella Valley, were arrested a few days ago following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.  

The defendants are charged with just over two dozen offenses, including premeditated attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, reckless gunfire, discharging a gun from a moving vehicle and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm — a “ghost gun” — in the commission of a felony.

There were no specific charges related to the trio’s alleged targeting of patrol deputies, even though sheriff’s investigators initially booked them on suspicion of shooting at them.

All three were scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday but it was delayed to Friday.

The victims at the Thermal property — nine men and five women — were identified only by their first names or initials in the criminal complaint.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop alleged that shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, the defendants drove to a house in the 88000 block of Avenue 70, near Fillmore Street, and unleashed a volley of gunfire at the property, but not hitting anyone inside.

The victims called 911, and several patrol units reached the location a short time later, Bishop said.

“While on scene, a vehicle drove onto the street, and an occupant fired multiple rounds in the direction of deputies, striking one of the patrol vehicles,” the sergeant said. “No deputies were injured.”   

Deputies didn’t shoot back, but instead gave chase as the vehicle sped away, authorities said.  

“Deputies pursued the suspect vehicle but lost sight of it,” Bishop said. “A short time later, they located an abandoned vehicle matching the suspect vehicle, (which was left) in the 63000 block of Landon Lane.”  

That’s roughly 10 miles northwest of where the alleged shooting occurred.   

Bishop said a search of the location after midnight Saturday resulted in contact with Pena, who tried to run away but was quickly apprehended without further incident.

Two days later, Diaz and Martinez were also taken into custody after they were summoned and questioned at the sheriff’s station on Airport Boulevard in Thermal.

A possible motive for the alleged attack wasn’t disclosed.   

The defendants have no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County adult court.

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Angela Chen

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – Rachel Nachison had to get married in secret.

“It was unfortunate because no one was there ,” said Nachison. “My parents were there, but we didn’t tell any of my husband’s family. My children were not present, which was really heartbreaking.”

But time was of the essence. Nachison, a mother of four, was about to lose her health care coverage, and along with that, services for her children, especially her 3-year-old son, who is non-verbal.

“I had this moment of panic, because my son has all this care through Kaiser for his autism services, his ABA services, and they were going to stop all of that care December 1,” Nachison said.

The Affordable Care Act subsidies expire at the end of 2025 —and Medicaid cuts are coming.Income brackets also changed this year. In response, insurance companies are jacking up rates. Two dueling bills attempting to address rising healthcare costs failed in the Senate on Thursday. Now, Americans are set to pay more for healthcare in the new year. For millions of people, insurance premiums will spike. On top of that, looming Medicaid cuts are set to affect more than half of the state’s children.

Rachel met her husband in Palm Desert, and they were supposed to get married in spring of 2026, surrounded by friends and family. But she rushed to the courthouse to say her vows so their dual income could keep them in the proper income bracket to keep their kids insured under Covered California.

She says it’s why she looks so upset in the wedding photo.

“As a mom I knew that that was what we needed to do, like, no question. It just—yeah. It sucks that that was kind of the only option that I had, was to just get married.”

People across the nation are bracing for the financial pain.

“So we’re seeing that, on average, the premiums are doubling for a lot of people,” said Gbenga Ajilore, the Chief Economist, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Ajilore said this will only worsen the affordability crisis so many people currently find themselves in.According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, for a family of four in California making 80-grand, monthly premiums could go from $263 to $560 and more.

“You know, $250 more each month. Where is that going to come from in the budget?” Ajilore said. “Because at the same time, there are other prices that are rising—grocery prices, prices of cars, housing is expensive—and so people are already being squeezed, and now this is just one more thing on top of that.”

“The expiration of the enhanced ACA tax credits and the proposed Medicaid cuts are going to cause a significant coverage crisis in California,” said George Greene, the president of the Hospital Association of Southern California. “We think about 1.7 million Covered California enrollees are going to see their premiums spike, and some of them will see them spike 60 to—in some cases—100 percent, and that could push thousands in regions like Riverside County and the Coachella Valley to drop coverage entirely.”

And that means the people who still have insurance will eat the cost.

“Premiums are going to be going up,” said Ajilore. “People are not going to be able to afford it. People drop out, and now that impacts all of us because our premiums are going to be going up.”

How much it’ll go up varies. The people who can least afford it will get the highest increase. An adult earning $25,000 — around poverty level — would see premiums shoot up by 563%. Another estimate shows if you’re 60 years old and making around $65, you’ll pay $919 more a year.

On top of that, looming Medicaid cuts. Medicaid, called Medi-Cal here in California, covers one in three Californians, and that’s currently under threat. Healthcare providers are already scaling back services in anticipation of cuts.“All that’s going to do is threaten coverage for millions, and it’s going to strip hundreds of millions of dollars from safety-net hospitals, and so many of these hospitals are already under strain,” said Greene. “Healthcare providers are already making proactive decisions—reducing workforce, determining which of their services they may no longer provide. We are seeing maternity wards close across the state, behavioral health units close across the state, and these are anticipatory changes that are being made, and so that will impact access to care.”

If Congress doesn’t extend the subsidies, the Coachella Valley will feel the impact more than other places.

The most recent reports from our local hospitals here in the Coachella Valley show nearly 40 percent of inpatient care and resources are spent on Medi-Cal recipients.

“The Inland Empire and Coachella Valley are home to large populations who disproportionately depend on public programs and these subsidies, so cuts hit these communities hardest, and they strain hospitals that already face severe workforce challenges,” said Greene.

For Rachel, the question mark of healthcare costs is pure stress. Wringing her hands as rings in the new year, she just hopes health care won’t drain her family’s budget.

“I’m about to reapply for 2026, including my husband and all of our children. And now, with the subsidies decision, I have no idea what we’re looking at for a monthly premium,” said Nachison. “It’s pretty horrifying to think about.”

On top of higher premiums, health professionals are expecting people to delay care because they won’t—or can’t—pay for it, which will lead to even more crowded ERs.

The best way to fight the spike in healthcare cost, says Greene, is to make noise. He recommends reaching out to your elected officials at every level to let them know how these changes may be hurting you.

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