A man who was shot twice by a La Mesa Police officer when he would not drop a knife was ordered March 26 to stand trial for the murder of his mother in Ocean Beach.
La Mesa police officer Brian Jacoby was the last witness in the two-day preliminary hearing of Daniel Chase McKibben, 38. Jacoby and another officer encountered McKibben in a home on May 2, 2019.
After Heidi Green, 59, was killed, McKibben went with a friend to a Rainey Street home in La Mesa, but his friend left and the friend’s father called police because McKibben would not leave.
McKibben told Jacoby and another officer he was armed and begged them to shoot him. “Let me die!” said McKibben, according to Jacoby who said he then pulled a knife.
“Shoot me in the heart!” yelled McKibben while waving a knife, said Jacoby.
Jacoby testified his partner shot him twice in the shoulder and hand. McKibben was rushed to a hospital where he was arraigned days later in a hospital bed.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers also ordered McKibben to stand trial for the special circumstances of murder during torture and murder during the robbery of his mother.
If McKibben is convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance charges, he would face either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich told Weathers the torture charge is based on the victim being stabbed 45 times in the face, neck, and head. She said one stab wound punctured the brain.
“The defendant is very angry with his mother,” said Nikoletich, adding the stabbings were done “for the purpose of revenge.”
“He had everything handed to him,” said Nikoletich, adding that his mother helped him in paying for his truck and allowed him to live in an Ocean Beach condominium she owned.
McKibben’s attorney, Damian Lowe, disputed that he robbed his mother. “He didn’t need anything more,” said Lowe, adding that she paid off his credit cards, and truck payments.
“This is a very sad and tragic case,” said Lowe. “No one ever said he stole from them.”
The first witness was the defendant’s brother, Adam McKibben, who drove down to San Diego after not hearing from his mother. He testified he talked with his brother, who claimed he didn’t know where she was.
Adam McKibben testified he found his mother’s remains in a trash can in the garage. She was wrapped in a blanket. He said he called 911.
McKibben has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in jail without bail. He will return to court on April 12 to schedule a trial date.
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A Sept. 9 trial date was set for a Spring Valley man who is accused of firing seven shots at a man who had dated his wife in 2017.
The attorney for Osvaldo Apolo Lopez, 38, unsuccessfully sought to reduce his $1 million bail in the slaying of Ricardo Sales, 30, on an Imperial Beach street corner.
Deputy District Attorney Patrick O’Jeil opposed the bail reduction motion by Lopez’s attorney, Emily Rose-Weber before Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Garry Haehnle.
O’Jeil said Lopez shot Sales three times in the back and then stood over him before firing four times in the head on Nov. 14, 2017.
“These are pretty horrendous facts,” said Haehnle in denying the bail reduction.
Lopez was angry with Sales who had an affair with Lopez’s wife, according to testimony in his preliminary hearing. A detective testified Lopez’s wife met Sales through Facebook.
Rose-Weber said Lopez’s six children are living with their grandmother. She said he has not had any disciplinary citations while in jail since his arrest.
Lopez was an IT computer specialist and had no criminal record. He has pleaded not guilty.
