VISALIA (AP) — A Central Valley man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the slaying of a Tulare County Sheriff’s detective.
A judge issued the sentence against 25-year-old Jorge Banda on Monday. Banda was convicted in August of first-degree murder in the 2007 killing of Detective Kent Haws on a rural road near Ivanhoe.
Authorities say Banda shot the 38-year-old Haws four times after Haws spotted him walking into an orange grove and stopped to see what he was doing. They alleged Banda — a convicted felon — was trying to avoid going to jail for possession of a firearm and an illegal methamphetamine pipe.
Banda’s attorney argued that her client did not intend to kill Haws, but suffered from voices in his head.
A witness reported seeing the shooter standing over Haws and firing one last shot before Haws stopped moving.