MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – A jury is likely to be seated tomorrow for the mental competency trial of a man accused of ambushing and killing a 30-year-old Riverside County sheriff’s deputy responding to a domestic violence call.
Jesse Ceazar Navarro of Lake Elsinore is charged with murder of a peace officer, attempted murder of a peace officer, special circumstance allegations of killing a law enforcement official and lying in wait, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, for the January 2023 death of Deputy Darnell Calhoun.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office is seeking capital punishment for Navarro, provided he’s convicted.
Based on a battery of psychiatric evaluations in 2023 and 2024, his attorney petitioned the court for a mental competency trial, also known as a Penal Code section 1369 trial, and Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson last year found there were sufficient grounds to proceed with one…