Month: February 2026

City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Prosecutors confirmed today that they intend to retry an alleged conspirator in the carjacking and killing of a 24-year-old Riverside man, with retrial proceedings tentatively set for April.

A Riverside jury was unable to overcome an impasse in deliberations last week during the trial of Qevon Xavier Harvey, 27, of Desert Hot Springs, leading to a mistrial.   

Harvey is charged with first-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, burglary and special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a burglary, killing during a kidnapping and killing during a robbery in the 2022 slaying of Benjamin Chanes.

During a status hearing Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged Harvey will be retried, prompting Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed to schedule the start of jury selection for April 14.

A separate jury last week convicted Harvey’s co-defendant, Trezell Lamone Heckard, 30, of Vallejo of the murder count, as well as robbery, carjacking, burglary and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a burglary. Jurors hung on the other special circumstance allegations. Heckard is slated to be sentenced on April 24.   

Harvey is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail. Heckard is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.   

A third alleged conspirator, Anthony Antoine Wright, 33, of Indio is also accused in the killing. He’s charged identically to Heckard and Harvey, but is additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Trial proceedings for Wright are tentatively scheduled to begin at the same time as Harvey’s.  

Wright is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.   

According to an arrest warrant declaration filed by the Riverside Police Department, on the afternoon of March 6, 2022, Chanes and his girlfriend, identified in documents only as “N.D.,” were returning to Riverside from Los Angeles in her vehicle, with him at the wheel, when they came to a stop in an unfamiliar area after exiting the freeway and were immediately approached by one of the defendants, wielding a handgun.   

The defendant “approached the driver’s side and ordered Benjamin out at gunpoint,” the affidavit stated.  

Chanes complied, at which point additional males “told (N.D.) to get out of the car, and they took her to another waiting vehicle and told her to keep her head down. She did what she was told,” the declaration said.   

The woman later told detectives that Chanes was seated in her car, while she was forced to drive with several of the defendants in their vehicle, a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. The trip lasted 15 minutes, after which both vehicles were parked outside the Boulder Creek Apartment Complex on Iowa Avenue, according to the declaration.   

Police alleged the defendants hustled Chanes and N.D. into the victim’s apartment, pushing the woman into a closet, then demanding to know from Chanes “where the money was” kept. For about 10 minutes, the defendants ransacked the apartment, with N.D. in the closet, unable to see where her boyfriend was being held, the affidavit alleged.   

When the men were distracted, Chanes abruptly bolted from the apartment. While he was attempting to run away, Wright allegedly opened fire on the victim, inflicting multiple gunshots to his back, causing Chanes to collapse on the sidewalk, according to the affidavit.

The young man died a short time later at Riverside Community Hospital.   

The defendants fled in the woman’s vehicle, leaving behind their own Chevy sedan, police alleged.  

N.D., who was not injured, emerged from the closet and called 911 moments after the gunfire.

Detectives gathered fingerprint and other evidence from the Chevy, leading them to one of the defendants’ social media accounts, in which revelations about the shooting ultimately came to light, according to the affidavit.

The men were arrested at different times over an 18-month span.   

Their co-defendant, Kahlin Cynque Erwin, 30, of Pittsburgh, Calif., pleaded guilty in 2024 to kidnapping and is due for sentencing on June 8. He’s free on a $55,000 bond.

Details regarding his and Wright’s prior convictions were unavailable.

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City News Service

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) –  Palm Springs International Airport launched an online portal today designed for travelers to view found items in real time.   

In partnership with Liff Happens, a digital lost-and-found software platform, PSP is the first airport to implement this service. The company was mainly used at major events and destinations worldwide, including Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival, Stagecoach Festival, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo and EDC.  

“Every touchpoint matter when it comes to our guests’ experience, and this is a meaningful improvement,” Executive Director of Aviation Harry Barrett, Jr., said in a statement. “By partnering with Liff Happens, we’re reducing the stress and uncertainty that comes lost items while making it easier for travelers to recover them.”  

Officials said the platform catalogs items using photos and key descriptive details and masks personal information for security reasons. Once a guest can verify ownership of an item, the person can securely finish the claim process and have their belongings shipped to a residence or to a preferred address.  

“We’re excited to partner with Palm Springs Airport as our first airport client,” Benji Friedl, Co-Founder of Liff Happens, said in a statement. “Airports present a unique opportunity to improve the lost and found experience at scale, and PSP is leading the way by putting convenience and guest experience first.”

The online portal can be found at flyPSP.com/lost.

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City News Service

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – The state Attorney General’s Office today announced a civil rights investigation into the response to the January 2025 Eaton Fire, questioning whether race, age or disability discrimination contributed to delays in emergency notifications and evacuations in the historically black West Altadena area.   

Attorney General Rob Bonta noted that the 14,000-acre fire killed 19 people, all but one of whom lived in the West Altadena area, and the average age of the fire victims was 77 years old.

Check Out: One Year Later: Eaton Fire survivors speak out

“The investigation we’ve launched is driven by one over-arching question — did the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s delay in notifying and evacuating the historically Black West Altadena community during the Eaton Fire violate state anti-discrimination and disability rights laws?” Bonta said at a Los Angeles news conference announcing the investigation. “Meaning, did unlawful race-, disability- or age based discrimination in the emergency response result in a delayed evacuation notification that disproportionately impacted West Altadena residents?

“That’s the question. We don’t know the answer. We don’t know what this investigation will turn up, which is the whole point — to pursue the facts, uncover, reveal the facts and follow the facts.

“We’re also not starting from a blank slate here. There are concerning circumstances surrounding the Eaton Fire that have raised questions, making this investigation necessary. The biggest of which is that there was indisputably a delayed emergency notification and evacuation of West Altadena. We’re here to ask why.”   

Questions about the emergency response to the fire were raised shortly after the deadly blaze, with the Los Angeles Times reporting that evacuation alerts were issued in West Altadena only well after the fire was raging in the community, and fewer firefighting resources were deployed into the area, as compared to the eastern portion of Altadena.   

The Times reports noted that residents living east of Lake Avenue received evacuation notices within an hour of the fire erupting on Jan. 7, 2025, but residents west of Lake were not notified for nearly nine hours. An evacuation order was not issued in West Altadena until roughly 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8, with some residents not receiving evacuation orders until nearly three hours after that, The Times reported.

West Altadena resident groups have been pressing the state to conduct an investigation into the issue. A group called Altadena for Accountability issued a statement Thursday hailing Bonta’s announcement.

“Amidst increasing climate change catastrophes, this investigation is expected to enforce a high standard of equity in the dispensation of emergency services during a disaster for all communities regardless of race, disability, or socioeconomic status,” according to the group.

The organization pointed to reports that “sheriff and fire personnel failed to conduct timely door-knocks, adequate in-person evacuation support, and described that a shortage of LASD duty vehicles hindered coverage across all impacted neighborhoods, while a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that only one county fire patrol was deployed to West Altadena during the fire’s first 12 hours and 911 calls for help also went ignored.”   

“While there have been prior efforts to analyze and audit the fires in Los Angeles, none rose to the level of investigation. In a time where climate change injustices are increasing, this move by Attorney General Rob Bonta marks a distinct and consequential path forward for fire survivors in search of accountability and justice,” according to the group.   

County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Altadena area, said she welcomes the AG’s investigation.   

“If there were gaps, we must acknowledge them. If there were disparities, we must confront them. And if systems need to change, we must change them,” Barger said in a statement. “I stand ready to support the attorney general’s efforts and remain committed to working collaboratively to ensure we learn from this tragedy and strengthen our emergency response systems for every community we serve.”  

The county Board of Supervisors last year ordered an independent review of the fire response. The resulting report, released in September by the McChrystal Group pointed to a series of outdated policies, weaknesses and systemic vulnerabilities that hampered emergency notifications and evacuation orders during the early onset of the Eaton and Palisades fires.   

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The consultant group found “no single point of failure” relating to lapses in public alerts, warnings and notifications, referring instead to widespread weaknesses in the overall system.

“Beyond alerting and evacuation operations, this review identified systemic issues that impacted the alert and evacuation response,” the report stated. “Outdated and inconsistent policies, protocols and standard operating procedures created ambiguity around evacuation authority and responsibilities. In many cases, decision-making roles were unclear, and pre-incident public messaging responsibilities lacked standardization across agencies. These gaps contributed to nonuniform preparedness strategies across jurisdictions and slowed coordinated efforts.”

In response to the report, Sheriff Robert Luna said last year: “The Palisades and Eaton Fires were the worst natural disaster in our county’s history, and it tested us and our community in every possible way. This After-Action Report is not only a reflection about the past, but it’s a tool for building a stronger emergency response. It highlights what went well and identifies where we can improve, with a focus on enhanced cross training and better technology to strengthen our preparedness. I’m deeply proud of how our deputy sheriffs performed with professionalism and dedication under dangerous and extraordinary circumstances, which exemplifies the strength and resilience of our department, and how we serve our communities.”

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