RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – A man involved in carjacking and killing a 24-year-old was convicted of murder and other charges, while the jury for his alleged conspirator, a Desert Hot Springs resident, was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial, court records confirmed Monday.
Trezell Lamone Heckard, 30, of Vallejo was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, burglary and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a burglary for the 2022 slaying of Benjamin Chanes. Jurors hung on separate special circumstance allegations of killing during a kidnapping and killing during a robbery.
A separate jury weighing the fate of Heckard’s co-defendant, 27-year- old Qevon Xavier Harvey of Desert Hot Springs, informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed Friday that after a week of deliberations, a unanimous verdict could not be reached on the same allegations. Koosed declared a mistrial in Harvey’s case. A retrial status conference is set for Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Heckard is due for sentencing on April 24. He’s being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility. Harvey is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.
A third alleged conspirator, Anthony Antoine Wright, 33, of Indio is also accused in the killing. Like Heckard and Harvey, he’s also charged with murder, carjacking, kidnapping and burglary, along with special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery, killing in the course of a kidnapping and killing in the course of a burglary…