Bail was set at $3 million Oct. 18 for a Lake Murray man accused of killing his girlfriend in front of her 5-year-old son.
The arraignment of Rodrick Lamar Harris, 32, was delayed several times in San Diego Superior Court last week as he was reported to be despondent and in a jail “safety cell” following the Oct. 12 shooting death of Vanessa Marie Bobo, 29.
Bail was set at $3 million Oct. 18 for a Lake Murray man accused of killing his girlfriend in front of her 5-year-old son.
The arraignment of Rodrick Lamar Harris, 32, was delayed several times in San Diego Superior Court last week as he was reported to be despondent and in a jail “safety cell” following the Oct. 12 shooting death of Vanessa Marie Bobo, 29.
Harris pleaded not guilty Oct. 18 to murder, and two counts of felony child endangerment. Bobo was shot as she held the couple’s 11-month-old son, said Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Carinci.
Carinci said Harris fired two shots, one of which went into Bobo’s back, severing her spinal cord. She dropped the baby and Harris fled to Chula Vista, where he was arrested about 12 hours later.
Carinci said the second shot went into a wall of the residence of the couple in the 6400 block of Lake Arrowhead Drive near El Cajon. She said the couple had an argument and he grabbed a loaded revolver and followed her into the 5-year-old’s room.
“The 5-year-old did witness his mother’s murder,” said Carinci.
The prosecutor asked Judge Frederic Maguire for $4 million bail, saying Harris represented “a significant safety risk to the public at large.” A public defender asked for “reasonable bail.”
A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 12. The children are in the care of family members. The victim’s sister seeking donations for Bobo’s funeral and for raising the two children set up a GoFundMe.com account.
Two men sentenced to life in Lemon Grove kidnapping
Two men have been sentenced to life terms in state prison for kidnapping a woman outside a Lemon Grove pharmacy and robbing her.
David Vichit Tonn, 29, received a life sentence Oct. 18 from San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren, who ordered him to pay $8,422.78 in restitution to the victim.
Kha Sok, 34, received two life terms plus 28 years consecutively in prison Oct. 19 from Halgren, which included punishment for other crimes committed against four other victims. He also was ordered to share in the restitution order.
Both men pleaded guilty to kidnapping a woman outside a CVS Pharmacy at 711 Broadway in Lemon Grove at 6:20 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2015. Two witnesses reported seeing a screaming woman pushed into a Ford Expedition van.
The woman’s face was covered with a hood and her hands and feet were bound, according to court records. She was forced to provide her debit card number and $600 was taken from her account. The men dropped her off near a check cashing business.
Sok also pleaded guilty to robbing three other women, attempted robbery of a fifth victim, and two counts of kidnapping to commit robbery. The other crimes occurred in San Diego.
“Five people have their lives turned upside down from these acts,” said Halgren.
Sok, who is Cambodian, selected short Asian women as targets because he believed they had cash on them, said Deputy District Attorney Lucille Yturralde. She said he used the money on gambling and alcohol.
Attorney Jason Conge, who represents Sok, said he was a machinist who lost his job and has six children. Conge said that Sok, by pleading guilty to all charges, has accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Tonn will have to serve at least seven years of his life sentence before he will be eligible for parole. Sok will have to serve 14 years of the two life terms and then serve 28 years before he will be eligible for parole, said Yturralde.
Both men received credit for serving 370 days in jail and were fined approximately $1,000.
