Convicted Los Angeles Serial Killer Charged With Murder In 25-Year-Old Utah Case

Over 25 years ago, three teenagers in Salt Lake City, Utah found the dead body of a woman in a stairwell as they walked through a parking lot. She had a scarf around her neck. Detectives later learned the victim, 21-year-old Itisha Camp, had been strangled. The case went unsolved for more than two decades until investigators finally linked the killing to a man convicted of murdering 14 women, strangling and raping most of them in Los Angeles County between 1987 and 1998. On Friday, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced convicted serial killer Chester Turner is being charged with first-degree aggravated murder in Camp's killing. Her body was found on Sept. 24, 1998. This appears to be the first case in which Turner has been charged with murder in a case outside California. DNA evidence led Salt Lake City detectives to Turner, who is currently sitting on death row in the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center after first being convicted in 2007. After he was found guilty of 10 murders that year, Turner was charged in 2011 with strangling and killing four more women in the Los Angeles area during the 1980s and 1990s. He was convicted of those slayings in 2014. 

CBS 2

'Panic buttons to nowhere': L.A. bus drivers say safety measures can't protect them from violent attacks

Panic buttons in some Los Angeles shuttle buses connect to no one, plexiglass shields around drivers were not intended to stop physical attacks, and union officials representing drivers say other safety measures touted to protect drivers are just not cutting it. "There has to be more," said Lourdes Garcia, secretary-treasurer and principal officer of Teamsters Local 572, the union representing the city's DASH shuttle drivers. "It's the time to just be honest about what's going on."

Los Angeles Times

DNA Evidence From Los Angeles Home Invasion Helps Investigators Find Maryland Murder Suspect

Authorities in Maryland tracked down a suspect connected to the 2023 killing of a mother of five with the help of DNA evidence from a home invasion in Los Angeles. According to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Rachel Morin, 37, was found dead one day after going missing on a hiking trail on August 6 of last year. Officials said Morin was attacked and pulled off the trail before being killed. The case remained unsolved for several months as the suspect escaped the scene, with only sketches released depicting his face. That all changed on Friday, however, when a man was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma on suspicion of murder and rape in connection to Morin’s death. The turning point in the case, authorities said, was DNA evidence from a March 2023 home invasion in Los Angeles. The alleged killer, 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, is also suspected of attacking a 9-year-old girl and her mother in the L.A. case. Authorities say Martinez-Hernandez entered the United States illegally in February 2023 from El Salvador. He was identified through the DNA evidence in May, though it took more time to find his location before he was found in Tulsa.

KTLA 5

Police Arrest Suspect In LAX Road Rage Fight That Knocked Elderly Woman Unconscious

Los Angeles police arrested a man Friday in connection with a road-rage-fueled scuffle at Los Angeles International Airport that knocked an elderly woman to the ground, leaving her unconscious. Jasan Givens Sr. was arrested shortly after 10 a.m. in South L.A.’s Chesterfield Square neighborhood by members of an LAPD and airport police task force. According to online records, he was booked into the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street Division jail on suspicion of felony battery and his bail was set at $50,000. Givens is scheduled to make his first court appearance July 12. Police say that a preliminary investigation suggests that Givens, 38, and another man got into a heated dispute before their fight May 31. The incident occurred about 9:25 a.m. Video from a surveillance camera shows a man, who police say was Givens, chasing after a shirtless man on the sidewalk before continuing into the street outside baggage claim. There, an elderly woman was standing while her luggage was being unloaded from her vehicle. Givens and the other man then slam into the woman, just as Givens tackles the other man from behind, the video shows. The woman was knocked to the ground face-down.

Los Angeles Times

Allegedly Armed Pursuit Suspect Arrested After High-Speed Chase Through North Hollywood

Los Angeles Police Department officers are in pursuit of an allegedly armed suspect driving a white pickup truck. While leading officers on the chase, the suspect could be seen driving through parking lots, hurtling through intersections and cutting through opposing lanes of traffic. At times they drove as fast as 80 miles per hour on surface streets. Just after 10 p.m., the driver pulled over quickly near Riverside Drive in Studio City, where several patrol cars quickly pulled up. Officers could be seen with guns pointed towards the truck as the driver and passenger put their hands out of the windows to surrender. Both were taken into custody without further incident. 

CBS 2

2 Taken Into Custody After Man Assaults Woman In Playa Vista

Two people were taken into custody on Friday night after a man assaulted a woman in Playa Vista, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed today. At 7:03 p.m. Friday, police were sent to Dawn Creek and Bluff Creek Drive due to a 911 caller reporting that a man was assaulting a woman, the LAPD said. Authorities confirmed the man was taken into custody. It was not clear if the woman was also taken into custody, according to police. 

Westside Current

Video: Sideshow Crowd Stomps On, Smashes Windshield Of California Cruiser With Officer Inside

Sideshows on the Peninsula and in the South Bay drew large police responses and reports of unruly crowds that reportedly threw things at passing cars and, in one instance, stomped on and bashed in a patrol vehicle. In San Jose, just before 7 p.m. Saturday, police and a witness video indicate that officers were called to Winchester Boulevard on the west side of Santana Row, after a spectator was reportedly hit by a vehicle participating in a sideshow. A statement posted Sunday by Paul Joseph, acting chief for the San Jose Police Department, said a reserve police officer was trying to reach the injured person when “his patrol car was overrun by spectators who prevented him from providing aid.” The witness video, which was circulating on social media, showed several people punching and kicking the SUV as it backed out of the scene. One man wearing a ski mask could be seen jumping onto the vehicle’s hood and stomping and kicking the windshield. Joseph said investigators are working to identify the people who attacked the vehicle, which left the officer with minor injuries. No immediate arrests were made in part because the crowd broke up before more officers arrived.

Bay Area News Group

Impaired Driver Who Fatally Struck 2 Nevada State Troopers Gets Maximum Prison Sentence

A man who was driving while impaired when he fatally struck two state troopers last year on Nevada’s busiest freeway has been sentenced to prison. Jemarcus Williams received the maximum sentence Tuesday of 16 to 40 years for two counts of DUI resulting in death, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. He pleaded guilty to the charge in April. The crash on the morning of Nov. 30 happened on a stretch of Interstate 15 near downtown Las Vegas. Trooper Alberto Felix and Sgt. Michael Abbate had stopped to check on a driver pulled over on the highway when Williams struck them both and fled. Williams, 46, evaded authorities for hours before police discovered the car he was driving at a nearby apartment complex, leading to his arrest. Williams has been jailed since the day of the crash. At his sentencing, the widow of Alberto Felix said to a courtroom packed with relatives and uniformed law enforcement officers that her husband and Abbate “had dreams, plans and a lot of life still in them.” “They were not just police officers,” Arlene Felix said. “They had family and friends and coworkers that loved them.” Abbate’s mother said she is still wrestling with the grief of losing her son, whose injuries were so severe the family had to hold a closed-casket funeral service.

Associated Press

L.A. County Firefighter Killed In Explosion Honored By Procession

A procession was held Friday night for a Los Angeles County firefighter who was killed in a vehicle explosion while battling a fire near Palmdale. The firefighter was identified as Andrew Pontious, 52, from Upland. He was a 19-year veteran of the department. He was assigned to a four-person engine at Station 93 and worked in the Palmdale area. “He was a wonderful man,” said Anthony Marrone, L.A. County Fire Department Chief. “He was married, he’s a father and it’s just such a tragedy.” The explosion happened at a cement quarry near the 6500 block of East Avenue T in Littlerock at around 2.p.m., officials said. Sky5 video of the scene showed a large tractor, described as an articulated front loader, with flames still visible near the engine and heavy smoke billowing from the vehicle. A body located on a dirt mound near the smoking vehicle was seen covered by an American flag. A second firefighter sustained minor injuries and was transported to the Antelope Valley Medical Center. He will be released later Friday night. It’s unknown what initially sparked the fire.

KTLA 5

Firefighters Find 1 Dead, 1 Injured At Bottom Of Cliff In San Pedro

Firefighters recovered a body and helped an injured person at the bottom of the cliffs at Point Fermin early Sunday. Los Angeles firefighters were called to the scene in San Pedro just before 2 a.m. for a cliff rescue. When they arrived they found one deceased person at the bottom of the cliffs and a second person with injuries. The injured person was brought to a local hospital. They were unable to airlift the body because of low visibility but another land-based rope rescue crew was brought in. The deceased person was described as a woman around 26 years old who apparently fell about 100 feet down the cliff. 

ABC 7

Hospital In L.A. County Asking For Public’s Help In Identifying Patient

A hospital in Los Angeles County is asking for the public’s help in identifying a patient who has been hospitalized since late April. Officials at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance say the man was brought to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a medical emergency at a bus stop at Torrance Boulevard and Earl Street on April 23. The patient had no identification and has been unable to participate in his care, hospital officials said. He is described as a Black male adult standing around 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing approximately 193 pounds with brown eyes, black hair a beard and a mustache. The man has several tattoos, including the word “California” across his abdomen, the date “1997” above his left eyebrow and the word “Lady” over his right eyebrow. Anyone who may recognize the patient or know any of his family members is urged to contact officials at 661-755-1322.  

KTLA 5

Watch: Firefighters Rescue Man Stuck In Downtown LA Building's Chimney

Firefighters rescued a man who was stuck for nearly two hours Sunday inside the chimney of a four-story downtown Los Angeles apartment building. Video showed the man climbing down into the chimney like Santa Claus from the rooftop of the building in the 1300 block of South Flower Street. He appeared to hold onto a metal bar above the chimney before losing his grip. Firefighters used cameras to pinpoint the man's location in the chimney, which extended through all four stories of the building. LAFD Urban Search and Rescue crews broke through an interior wall and entered the shaft below the man. Rescuers were able to slide the man down the chimney to safety. The man, believed about 25 years old, was freed at about 10 p.m. He was hospitalized with moderate injuries. Details about why the man entered the chimney were not immediately available.

NBC 4

Photos: The First Major Wildfire Of 2024 In Los Angeles County

A wind-driven wildfire along Interstate 5 near the Grapevine exploded to more than 12,000 acres by early Sunday and had charted a path south toward the town of Castaic, prompting evacuations throughout the area, officials said. The Post fire, which originated Saturday in Gorman in northwestern Los Angeles County, was only 2% contained Sunday afternoon as high winds, low humidity and steep terrain hampered firefighting efforts. Meanwhile, firefighters were battling another brush fire in the San Bernardino County community of Hesperia that broke out after 6 p.m. Saturday in the 18000 block of North Highway 173. That fire has burned more than 1,300 acres and was 20% contained. 

Los Angeles Times

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.