Photo: victim Kimberly Harvill
LOS ANGELES – Thirty one year old Alex Valdez of Firebaugh was handed a heavy sentence on May 31st for the murder of a woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the result of first-degree murder and the special allegation of killing a witness.
The victim, Kimberly Harvill, was murdered in August of 2016. Her body was discovered in a remote area of Gorman. The Case (BA449493) was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
L.A. Deputy District Attorneys Mario Haidar and Kathy Ta prosecuted the case. L.A.D.A.’s Greg Risling outlined the circumstances: “Harvill was killed by Joshua Robertson (dob 8/18/89) and Valdez because the victim was a witness to a shooting in Fresno involving the two defendants that occurred days before her murder.”
After the crime occurred, “Robertson and the victim’s half-sister, Brittney Sue Humphrey (dob 7/29/94), kidnapped Harvill’s children ages 5, 3 and 2. The children were later found abandoned in a New Mexico motel.”
Later, Humphrey and Robertson were located and arrested in Colorado. Valdez was arrested in Fresno.
Humphrey’s no contest plea in September of 2017 brought her three counts of kidnapping and a 13-year prison sentence.
Robertson entered an open, no contest plea (not negotiated with prosecutors) in January: one count of first-degree murder, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of an unrelated arson and one count each of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of flammable material. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“In February, a jury found Alex Valdez (dob 2/3/88) guilty of one count of first-degree murder,” said Risling. “The panel also found true a special circumstance allegation of killing a witness.”
Valdez will be spending the rest of his life in prison – with no possibility of parole.
