Victorville nightclub homicide suspect arrested

A suspect in a deadly nightclub shooting in Victorville was arrested Tuesday in Lenwood.

Joseph Ray Rice, 29, barricaded himself inside a home in the 34500 block of Camino Real when law enforcement arrived. Authorities eventually convinced him to surrender.

Rice is suspected of shooting Delvon Williams 26, of Rialto in the head at Karma Nightlife at 12100 Cottonwood Ave. in November.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies booked Rice into jail on suspicion of homicide. Dayna Green Thomas, identified as Rice’s wife, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime.

By Melissa Pinion-Whitt
Posted: 03/09/2011 09:40:00 AM PST

Drug lab components found in Big Bear home

Sheriff’s deputies arrested two Big Bear City residents Monday after they found drug lab chemicals in their apartment and a 10-month-old infant sleeping on the floor.

Dion Michael Augustine, 29, and Janiey Kathleen Augustine, 32, were booked into jail on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance and child cruelty. They are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail each, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies came to the 300 block of West Big Bear Boulevard after they received a report that children may have been left alone in an apartment. They found Dion Augustine walking nearby. He agreed to let deputies follow him to his apartment.

Deputies found the infant sleeping on the floor and several containers of toxic chemicals in the home. Sheriff’s narcotics division detectives searched the home and found chemicals and paraphernalia used in clandestine drug labs. All materials were seized.

Child Protective Services took custody of the infant and three other children.

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By Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Driver in Victorville fatal hit-and-run was texting at time of crash

San Bernardino Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested an Apple Valley hit-and-run driver who struck a pedestrian because she was sending a text message, sheriff’s officials said.

Jennifer Sweeney, 28, was booked into jail on suspicion of manslaughter.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies had been searching for the driver since March 20 when they found a body on Palmdale Road near San Mateo Road.

Several motorists pulled over after accidentally running over the body. Deputies determined the victim had been struck by another motorist who was no longer at the scene.

A passenger who was riding in Sweeney’s car later came forward and told deputies about the crash. Deputies discovered that Sweeney was sending a cell phone text message and didn’t see the pedestrian.

Deputies arrested the woman at her home in the 22700 block of Shawnee Road and booked her into the West Valley Detention Center. They also cited two of her roommates on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia.

By Melissa Pinion-Whitt

All three in Barstow Jail stand trial for bunker murders

BARSTOW • A judge ruled Wednesday that the three alleged killers of two teens, shot execution-style in an abandoned bunker in January 2008, will go to trial.

Collin Lee McGlaughlin, 19, David Brian Smith, 20, and Cameron Thomson, 17, will be tried on two counts each of murder, attempted robbery and kidnapping in the deaths of 16-year-old Bodhisattva “Bodhi” Sherzer-Potter, of Helendale, and Christopher Cody Thompson, 18, of Apple Valley.

After hearing more testimony, including that one alleged killer was bragging in jail that he was there for killing a pair of high school sweethearts, the three-day preliminary hearing ended with Judge John B. Gibson ruling that there was enough evidence to send all three to trial.

During the hearing, the four attorneys representing the defendants pointed to inconsistencies in the statements made to detectives by Smith and Thomson and disputed how large of a role each of their clients played in the alleged crime.

Recordings of conversations that took place between Smith and McGlaughlin in a holding cell at the Barstow jail on the date of their arraignment — Jan. 22, 2008 — may play a prominent part in the trial.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detail Sgt. Frank Montanez quoted McGlaughlin as saying in the jail recording, “Maybe I’ll just shoot someone. It was a hell of an adrenaline rush.”

McGlaughlin also talked about wanting to kill children and told Smith that he had told other jail inmates that he was locked up for killing a pair of “high school sweethearts,” Montanez said.

McGlaughlin and Smith did not know the victims, but roused them from the Jeep where they were spending the night after a party in the bunker, and took them inside, where both were shot execution-style, according to testimony.

In statements to police, Thomson and Smith pointed to McGlaughlin as the main culprit.

Detectives said Smith also agreed to cooperate as an informant after his arrest and made two recorded phone calls to McGlaughlin.

McGlaughlin’s public defender, Stephan Willms, asked the judge to suppress evidence that came from recordings. He argued that recording the conversations violated McGlaughlin’s right to have an attorney present while being questioned, because Smith had agreed to work with police and might have been expected to draw evidence from his client.

Gibson denied the motion.

The next hearing date is Jan. 27.

ABBY SEWELL Staff Writer