Court Roundup

Jury convicts boyfriend of second degree murder of 7-month old boy

After deliberating more than four hours, a jury on Oct. 9 convicted David Christopher Cruz, 24, of El Cajon, of second-degree murder and assault on a child resulting in death in the 2011 slaying of his girlfriend’s 7-month-old son.

Jury convicts boyfriend of second degree murder of 7-month old boy

After deliberating more than four hours, a jury on Oct. 9 convicted David Christopher Cruz, 24, of El Cajon, of second-degree murder and assault on a child resulting in death in the 2011 slaying of his girlfriend’s 7-month-old son.

El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos will sentence Cruz on Nov. 7. Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso said the assault charge carries a penalty of 25 years to life in state prison.

The victim was Cordero Izaiah Cisneros, Jr., who suffered from brain damage after he was violently shaken or beaten on March 18, 2011, by Cruz, who was his babysitter. Cruz was engaged at the time with the infant’s mother who was at work in the Navy when her son was injured.

The boy’s father, Cordero Cisneros, Sr. was deployed at sea when his son was injured. The military with the Red Cross assistance flew him back in time for him to see and hold his son for the last time. 

He was declared brain dead and taken off life support days later. Cisneros also testified in the murder trial.

Cruz admitted to a sheriff’s detective that he shook the baby after the boy was fussy. Cruz said he was angry that the baby was not quiet. Cruz admitted he struck the baby in the stomach and he fell on the floor.

His attorney, Michael Begovich, argued the boy died from an untreated ear infection and not from a shaking or beating. Cruz remains in jail on $2 million bail.

‘Bite Me Bandit’ receives 11 years in federal prison

An El Cajon man known as the “Bite Me Bandit” received 11 years in federal prison Oct. 11 and was ordered to repay $16,256 back to the six banks he robbed in 2012.

Steve Edward Ruby, 54, wore a T-shirt that said, “Bite Me” in one robbery in El Cajon. The FBI later called him the “Insistent Bandit” after he robbed one teller twice and for the persistent way in which he demanded money.

The former teller robbed twice at Pacific Western Bank, 9955 Mission Gorge Road, in Santee, came to the sentencing and told U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes about the trauma she went through after Ruby told her he had a gun.

The teller did not want to be identified, was the first robbery victim on Jan. 17, 2012, and the second victim a week later. She said Ruby returned to the bank a third time on Feb. 14, but personnel were able to lock him out of the bank.

“I was forced to resign and I loved my job,” said the teller.

The judge said Ruby was “heartless and lacking of compassion” when he threatened bank tellers. “People are terrorized when they see a gun. It has a life long impact on people,” said Hayes.

His attorney, John Ellis Jr. wrote in court papers his client was a drug addict for 27 years and lived most of his life with his mother, Velma Ruby. When she died of brain cancer in 2011, Ruby was devastated and evicted from the mobile home where he lived because he could not pay rent, Ellis stated.

Ellis stated Ruby used bank loot to pay for drugs, alcohol, and hotels, as he was homeless. Ruby entered into a drug treatment program in jail after his March 8, 2012, arrest. The judge recommended Ruby continues in a drug treatment program while in prison.

Both Ellis and Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard both recommended the 11-year sentence. Hayes also ordered Ruby to pay $700 in penalty assessment fees and no fine in light of the bank restitution order.

“I apologize to the victim and to the court. I take full responsibility,” said Ruby.

Ruby pleaded guilty to six bank robberies and one attempted robbery. The other banks held up were Pacific Western in El Cajon on Feb. 21, 2012, the U.S. Bank branch on Mission Gorge Road of Feb. 10, and a Wells Fargo branch on Montezuma Road on Feb. 28.

Ruby had an accomplice, Spiros Romensas, 53, La Mesa, in the last two robberies. Romensas was convicted by a federal jury of two counts of aiding and abetting bank robbery on April 18. 

He will be sentenced Nov. 12 and remains in the Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail.