Cold Case Killing In Riverside County: Arrests Made After 18 Years

MEAD VALLEY, CA — After almost 20 years, five suspects have been arrested in the death of a 51-year-old Riverside County man who was a victim of what authorities determined to be a fatal home invasion robbery.

Just before midnight on June 13, 2007, Riverside County deputies were called to a residence in the 19000 block of Mariposa Avenue in Mead Valley. The community, situated in an unincorporated area west of March Air Reserve Base, features a scattering of homes, some with small, ranch-style layouts.

When deputies arrived at the residence, they found Andres Valdes suffering from gunshot injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several other victims at the home had been assaulted and suffered minor injuries by masked suspects who "entered the property with the intent of committing a robbery," according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

It's unclear what the suspects were looking for.

Witnesses told investigators that Valdes became involved in a physical altercation with the suspects when one of them shot and killed him, the sheriff's department said.

Despite law enforcement's efforts to track down the assailants, the case went cold.

It wasn't until February of this year that the case was reopened.

"Over the past several months, multiple suspects were identified as being involved in the murder and robbery," the sheriff's department announced Monday.

Five men have now been arrested in the case, all of whom would have been in their teens at the time of the Mead Valley violence.

Deshawn Kordell Hill, 36, and Kenneth Tucker II, 37, both of Riverside, were arrested earlier this month and have been charged with murder. They are being held without bail, according to jail records.

Additionally, three out-of-state arrests were made this month in the case. Dennis Haynes, 37, of Phoenix, Arizona, was taken into custody on July 14 in Phoenix; Kenneth Haynes, 37, also of Phoenix, was arrested on July 14 in Beaumont, Texas; and Keith Crutchfield, 37, of Killeen, Texas, was arrested on July 21 in Belton, Texas. Each is facing a murder charge in the case; they are being extradited to Riverside County, according to the sheriff's department.