GUILTY CA - Killer targeting the homeless (3 dead, 2 hurt), San Diego, July 2016 *Arrest*

[0101ABA]

Mental Competency Hearing Set for Man Accused of 5 Homeless Attacks

A March 20 competency trial was set Wednesday for a man accused of attacking five homeless men in various San Diego neighborhoods last year, killing three of them.

Jon David Guerrero, 40, was arrested last summer in connection with the crime spree. In October, he was found to be incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Patton State Hospital.

Guerrero was recently sent back to San Diego after doctors at Patton found him to be mentally competent to assist in his defense.

 

[Curious Me]

Man accused in homeless attacks ruled mentally competent, arraignment set
http://www.cbs8.com/story/34957183/...acks-ruled-mentally-competent-arraignment-set

After reviewing reports from Patton State Hospital and a court-appointed doctor in San Diego, Judge David Danielsen ruled that Jon David Guerrero understands the charges against him and can assist his attorney at trial.

The judge reinstated criminal proceedings and set an arraignment for April 4.

 

[Curious Me]

I thought I had heard about him killing another person, a woman, and now I heard it again on the news and found it in print. She was just walking along and was 83 yrs. old. All the people he killed were innocently minding their own business. It's very upsetting. I'm so relieved he was caught, but it wasn't soon enough.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/35067499/man-accused-of-attacking-homeless-in-san-diego-pleads-not-guilty

New charges were added Tuesday against a man accused of attacking mostly homeless men...

Harvey said Guerrero is also charged in the death of 83-year-old Molly Simons last July 13 in North Park. The victim was not homeless and lived with her husband, police said.

The prosecutor said Simons was walking to the YMCA, where she volunteered several times a week, when Guerrero allegedly rode by on a bicycle and struck her in the back of the head, causing her death.

 

[Curious Me]

:rose: RIP MOLLY SIMONS :rose:

Police reveal 6th victim in last year's deadly homeless attacks

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-me-crime-notebook-20170125-story.html

But no one told us about Molly Simons.

Investigators revealed last week that Guerrero is also suspected of killing the 83-year-old woman in an alley off Arizona Street near University the morning of July 13 — two days before he was arrested.

Neighbors Say Victim of Homeless Killing Spree a 'Kind, Gentle, Soul'
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...ling-Spree-as-Kind-Gentle-Soul-411947005.html

Molly Simons, 83, was named the sixth victim on Thursday.

According to the ME report, Simons suffered a serious head injury and died on July 30, 2016.

Friends describe Simons as a very sweet person with a gentle soul. They said she loved to garden in the North Park apartment complex she had lived in with her husband for more than 20 years.

“She'd water the plants and she'd talk to them. She'd sort of cradle them and water them and say, 'I love you, I love you'," said neighbor...

“One of the perks of this place was that we felt so lucky that we got to live above this couple," Lopez added.

 

[cvaldez1975]

along with many other attacks! jesus!

I thought I had heard about him killing another person, a woman, and now I heard it again on the news and found it in print. She was just walking along and was 83 yrs. old. All the people he killed were innocently minding their own business. It's very upsetting. I'm so relieved he was caught, but it wasn't soon enough.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/35067499/man-accused-of-attacking-homeless-in-san-diego-pleads-not-guilty

 

[Curious Me]

It's calmed down now, but we won't soon forget how John David Guerrero had the entire city on edge and was attacking human beings with railroad spikes, hammers, and setting sleeping men on fire. What he did to those innocent human beings was tragic.

The district attorney’s office has not said whether it will seek the death penalty if Guerrero is convicted or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On Tuesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser ordered the defendant to be held without bail. A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for July 11, when a different judge will be asked to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to go to trial.

Guerrero initially was expected to be arraigned shortly after his arrest in July. But criminal proceedings were suspended when his lawyer raised questions about his competency.

Guerrero was sent to a state mental hospital in San Bernardino County until doctors determined he was able to understand the court proceedings and assist in his own defense. A judge ruled last month that the case would resume.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-attacks-20170404-story,amp.html

A status conference is scheduled May 17 and a preliminary hearing set for July 11.

http://timesofsandiego.com/crime/20...ded-man-accused-attacking-homeless-san-diego/

 

[JerseyGirl]

The competency trial date was set for Nov. 13, over the public defender’s objection that it wasn’t enough time for him to prepare.

Competency trial set for man accused in homeless killings

 

[coastal]

Thanks, JerseyGirl! I just reread this thread.
I wish I hadn't. Nothing has changed.
It is every bit as terrifying as it was when it was happening. Every bit as awful.

From your link:

>>>snip

...A man accused of killing or wounding a dozen homeless people around San Diego in 2016 will have a trial to determine whether he is mentally competent to face criminal charges in what could be a death penalty case, a judge ordered Wednesday...

and

...No preliminary hearing has been held yet to determine whether there is enough evidence to send Guerrero to a criminal trial...

and

...Guerrero, a Coronado native who was considered odd by his classmates, has long history of mental illness and crime, according to court records.

Between 1999 and 2008, he was convicted of burglary, grand theft and possession of stolen items and drugs. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had mental health cases filed in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

In 2008, his mother tried to get him psychiatric treatment in jail, saying his self-destructive behaviors included inserting foreign objects into his body orifices.

After spending some time at Patton State Hospital and until his arrest, Guerrero stayed in independent living facilities in downtown San Diego...

(article continues)

<<<snip
My bold. These seem out of order to me. Wouldn't there need to be enough evidence to bring criminal charges against him, before the state tries to determine if he is competent to stand trial? Does he have to be competent to be charged with a crime? Or...okay. I'll go look it up. BRB

 

[coastal]

Competency to Stand Trial

>>>snip

...Defendants have an unassailable right to understand the proceedings against them and assist in their own defense. If they’re incapable of understanding and assisting, they’re legally incompetent.

No matter how clear the evidence of guilt is, mentally incompetent people can’t be convicted. A defendant might have shot someone in broad daylight, then confessed to the crime—if that defendant isn’t competent, criminal proceedings must wait. Authorities will arrest and hold the defendant in custody and the prosecution will file criminal charges, but the case can’t advance until the defendant’s competency is “restored.” The defendant can’t “waive” the issue of fitness to stand trial—the law requires competency before a case can proceed...

<<<snip

and

Competency to Stand Trial - Lawyers.com

>>>snip

...The U.S. Constitution guarantees everyone the right to a fair trial and due process of law. It’s not fair if the defendant doesn’t understand—and isn’t capable of understanding—the proceedings. That’s why criminal defendants can’t be tried or convicted while they’re mentally incompetent (although they can be charged with crimes in the first place)...

<<<snip

So there it is. I'm still confused, but I guess they know what they're doing. I trust that they know what they're doing. I do. Really. Power to the People, and all that.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Suspect in deadly attacks on homeless found competent for trial

The judge set a preliminary hearing date of Nov. 4 to hear evidence in the criminal case and decide whether to send Guerrero to trial.

 

[0101ABA]

A man accused of attacking several people — mostly homeless victims — in San Diego neighborhoods in 2016, resulting in four deaths, will stand trial on charges that could lead to the death penalty.


Jon David Guerrero, 42, was bound over for trial Friday by San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kenneth K. So on 15 felony counts, including murder, arson, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He also faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders stemming from the spree of attacks that occurred over about a five-month span in 2016.

Trial ordered for man accused of killing homeless men with railroad spikes

 

[0101ABA]

A June 1 trial date was set Wednesday for a man accused of attacking more than a half-dozen mostly homeless victims in San Diego neighborhoods in 2016, resulting in four deaths.

Jon David Guerrero, 42, is facing 15 felony counts, including murder, arson, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from the spree of attacks that occurred over about a five-month span in 2016. June Trial Date Set for Man Accused of San Diego Homeless Killings - Times of San Diego

 

[Curious Me]

I followed this case extensively. He pled guilty today. I'm so relieved to hear Guerrero will not be walking the streets terrorizing a city nor will he be out of prison in this lifetime.

Today's news is that Jon David Guerrero pled guilty. It's good news for the legal system. No trial and no decision has to be made whether it'd be a DP trial. Streamlined right to sentencing in May. So be it. He'll be sentenced to four consecutive life without parole life sentences plus 143 years to life, when he's sentenced May 1, 2020.

Man pleads guilty to murder in homeless killing spree

It was terrible! He kept attacking and killing sleeping homeless men. The whole city was terrified and on edge until he was caught.

Man pleads guilty in San Diego homeless killing spree that left four dead -

"A definitive motive was never disclosed, though preliminary hearing testimony indicated Guerrero told the first victim in the series of attacks that he attacked him, “Because you’re a bum.”

Man pleads guilty in homeless murder case

The man, one of his victims, survived and has such a forgiving heart. ​

"One of the victims, Michael Papadelis, 58, who survived a July 15 encounter with Guerrero that left him blind in one eye, said he was happy to get closure. Papadelis briefly spoke with Guerrero's parents following Monday's hearing and told them, "I don't hate Jon,'' and later told reporters, "This was just a person who had issues, mental issues, health issues.'''

BBM

 

[coastal]

Thanks, Curious Me. This is good news!

 

[Curious Me]

Today was an early Sentencing for Jon David Guerrero. He pled guilty a year ago, and today was officially sentenced to four life-without-parole state prison terms, plus 143 years to life.

Man gets multiple life sentences for 2016 homeless killing spree in San Diego (fox5sandiego.com)