OROVILLE — An Oroville man was found guilty on Thursday of stabbing two other men in September 2022.
According to a press release issued Thursday night by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, Chance Andre Vincent, 28, of Oroville was convicted of two charges of assault with a deadly weapon after attacking two homeless men within a 54-hour time period.
The first man who was stabbed testified in court that he and Vincent left his camp at Riverbend Park briefly and upon returning at around 1 a.m., Vincent stabbed him in the back twice.
“The victim was saved by firefighters who were nearby taking care of a small grass fire and responded to his screams for help,” Ramsey said in his release. “The victim was taken to Enloe Hospital where he received emergency trauma care for a collapsed lung.”
The second stabbing occurred in Chico at the Amtrak Depot where police officers discovered a man with multiple stab and slash wounds both on his front and back. Both of the men stabbed were treated for collapsed lungs.
A criminalist from a laboratory in Redding said during the trial that Vincent’s DNA was found on the handle of the knife used to stab the men, the release said.
“I am thankful the Oroville victim remained cooperative with law enforcement and my office from the day of his horrific attack through his testimony at trial,” Ramsey said. “These very strange, senseless crimes highlight the dangers afflicting the people in our community who are struggling with the ongoing homelessness crisis.”
Vincent was accused of attacking an officer at the Butte County Jail and is awaiting trial for that case. His sentence for the stabbing is set for Feb. 15.
Man who shot two people at bar gets eight years in prison
Heriberto Hernandez-Figueroa, 29, of Chico received an eight-year prison sentence after being convicted of a drive-by shooting at a bar in Chico in which two people were shot.
A press release issued Wednesday by Ramsey said the incident occurred in March 2023 and the two individuals who were shot, one in the arm and the other in the leg, were taken to the hospital where they were treated and eventually released.
It was determined by detectives that the incident was likely gang-related based on Hernandez-Figueroa’s history. During the incident, he drove slowly by the bar, located at the 900 block of East Avenue but failed to hit his intended target, the release said.
During the trial, Ramsey said, security footage was used to link Hernandez-Figueroa to the shooting.
“Surveillance from the bar showed Hernandez-Figueroa had been inside the bar with a large group of people and had been in an argument with the intended victim who was later standing on the sidewalk with others,” Ramsey said in the release.
One of the men shot was a bouncer at the bar who wrote an impact letter to presiding Judge Jesus Rodriguez saying that he lost function in his arm and hand and said he had to move out of California to be closer with family members for a better chance at recovery.
The release said Rodriguez ordered that Hernandez-Figueroa pay restitution to the man he shot totaling more than $17,000.
Ramsey’s release said Hernandez-Figuria was convicted of selling drugs and being a felon in possession of a gun in 2018.
Woman who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter gets prison evaluation
Shelby Alvarez, 27, of Chico, who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in December, was sent to a state prison for diagnostic evaluation on Wednesday.
According to a press release issued Wednesday by Ramsey’s office, Alvarez was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.25% on the night of Dec. 16, 2023 in the wrong lane on Highway 99 while texting when she entered a head-on collision with another vehicle, killing 21-year-old Octavio Alcaraz-Jimenez. Alcaraz-Jimenez was thrown from his vehicle in the crash and died at the scene. Alvarez received minor injuries from her seatbelt.
During the sentencing on Wednesday, Alcaraz-Jimenez’s family members provided statements to the judge and asked for more than just the 10-year maximum sentence.
Ramsey said in the release that this was Alvarez’s first offense, which was an argument put forth by the public defender.
“Alvarez’s public defender pointed out to the judge that Alvarez had no criminal record and expressed extreme remorse for her actions,” Ramsey said. “However, in a probation report given to the judge today, an experienced probation officer expressed some doubt as to whether Alvarez’s remorse was genuine and also noted that Alvarez’s statement to CHP officers that she had tattooed a friend’s name who was supposedly killed by a drunk driver on her arm was false.”
It was also noted in the release that Alvarez is a single mother.
The release said Judge Corie Caraway had Alvarez sent to prison for a 90-day evaluation and afterward the court will have a recommendation from experts as to whether Alvarez should go to prison or if probation would be suitable.
Man gets life in prison in cold case murder
A Magalia resident who pleaded no contest in a 2017 homicide case received a life sentence in prison on Wednesday after seven years.
Dustin Troy Kimball, 48, of Magalia received the sentence after being arrested in relation to a cold case going back to June 2017 when Jennifer Coleen Moore, 41, of Orland was murdered.
A press release issued by Ramsey said the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office received a missing persons report for Moore with those close to her saying she was last seen leaving with Kimball, who was her boyfriend at the time. It became a cold case when no body was recovered.
That was until Jan. 10, 2021 when human remains were located in Forest Ranch near Highway 32. After being analyzed by members of Chico State’s anthropology program, the remains were identified as Moore.
“In previous hearings, Butte County prosecutors presented evidence that established Kimball was the last person to be seen with Moore and that he picked her up from her home in Orland and drove her to the Chico Walmart — the last location they were seen together,” Ramsey said in his release. A search of Kimball’s internet search history revealed that less than an hour before picking Moore up from her home in Orland, he was searching things such as ‘jugular vein’ and ‘how to cut a jugular vein.'”
Detectives used Kimball’s cell phone location to determine that he was in the area where Moore’s remains were found for roughly an hour.
Moore’s family members gave testimonies during the sentencing to Judge Rodriguez.
Ultimately, Kimball was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
