Pretrial Set For RivCo Man Accused Of Killing Woman, Wounding Another

BANNING, CA — Pretrial motions were slated to get underway Wednesday or Thursday ahead of jury selection for the trial of a felon accused of fatally shooting a woman and seriously wounding her friend in a vehicle-to-vehicle attack in Hemet.

Brian Kevin Kumpe, 42, of Hemet allegedly killed the victim, identified in court documents only as "Pamela," during a 2021 shooting in the 400 block of North Elk Street, near Devonshire Avenue.

Kumpe is charged with murder, attempted murder, a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, being a felon in possession of a gun and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

His case was first called for trial at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta during the first half of November, but shortly after jury selection began, proceedings were suspended for undisclosed reasons.

On Tuesday, the case was transferred back to the Banning Justice Center, where the criminal complaint against the defendant was originally filed, and assigned to the courtroom of Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jorge Hernandez, who was expected to begin ruling on pretrial motions Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.

Kumpe is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.

According to Lt. Nate Miller of the Hemet Police Department, on the night of Aug. 15, 2021, Kumpe confronted Pamela and her friend, identified in documents only as a woman with the initials "D.D.," as they sat in a parked car on North Elk.

According to Miller and court documents, the defendant pulled alongside the vehicle in his SUV and opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

"Investigators learned that a previous disagreement between Kumpe and one of the two women resulted in him shooting them when the three adults crossed paths," the lieutenant said.

He said that patrol officers, who were headed to another call, heard the gunfire and went to the location.

Pamela died at the scene, while the other woman was taken to a hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds from which she has since recovered.

Detectives developed leads that pointed to Kumpe as the alleged perpetrator, and the next day he was taken into custody without incident in San Jacinto, according to Miller.

Court records show the defendant has prior convictions for robbery, attempted robbery and burglary.

—City News Service