RIVERSIDE — Two men accused with three others of gunning down a Mead Valley resident during a home invasion robbery that occurred almost two decades ago are in custody in Riverside County.
DeShawn Cordell Hill, 36, and Kenneth Tucker II, 37, both of Riverside, were arrested in the last two weeks following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Cold Case Unit investigation.
Their co-defendants, Keith Isaiah Crutchfield, 37, of Killeen, Texas, and brothers Dennis Jamal Haynes and Kenneth Lamar Haynes, both 37 and of Phoenix, Arizona, are awaiting extradition following their arrests since the start of the month.
All of the men are charged with first-degree murder and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery for the 2007 slaying of 51-year-old Andres Valdes. All except Tucker are additionally charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
Hill on Wednesday was being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, and Tucker was being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Their alleged cohorts were being held on no-bail extradition warrants at correctional facilities in their respective states.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop said Cold Case Unit detectives reopened the Valdes homicide case in February after it lay dormant for years.
The victim was attacked late on the night of June 13, 2007, according to Bishop.
He said the Mead Valley man was home with several family members in the 19000 block of Mariposa Avenue, near Wood Road, when the armed defendants allegedly forced their way onto the property and confronted the victims.
“Deputies learned the masked suspects entered … with the intent of committing a robbery,” the sergeant said. “Valdes became involved in a physical altercation with the suspects, when one of them shot and killed him.”
The defendants grabbed what valuables were in view and immediately fled the location, Bishop alleged.
Valdes died at the scene. Several others in the household suffered unspecified minor injuries.
“This case unfortunately went cold without an arrest,” Bishop said.
Renewed efforts to identify the assailants by the Cold Case Unit turned up additional evidence, culminating in arrest warrants being issued for all of the defendants this month.
