Brian Kevin Kumpe is on Trial for Shooting Two Women
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The defense rested Wednesday in the trial of a felon accused of ambushing and killing a neighbor and seriously wounding her friend during a vehicle-to-vehicle attack in Hemet.
Brian Kevin Kumpe, 42, of Hemet allegedly killed Pamela Daniels during a 2021 shooting on North Elk Street, near Devonshire Avenue.
Kumpe is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing a victim in a drive-by, being a felon in possession of a loaded gun and sentence- enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The prosecution rested last week, and the defense had been summoning witnesses since then. Kumpe testified in his own defense Tuesday.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni directed jurors to return to the Riverside Hall of Justice Thursday for closing statements.
Kumpe is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant had been at odds with Daniels and other neighbors at an apartment complex at 446 North Elk for months prior to the alleged attack.
He believed the victim had contacted the Department of Child Protective Services after witnessing alleged mistreatment of his son. Court papers further stated Kumpe had been in at least one physical altercation with several Black residents, whom he described using the “N” word.
On the night of Aug. 15, 2021, the defendant’s ill-will surged after another encounter with CPS agents regarding his family. Prosecutors alleged Kumpe got into his Chevrolet Tahoe and waited in it adjacent to the apartments.
The brief said Daniels’ neighbor, identified only as “D.D.,” intended to take the victim to a supermarket in her Volkswagen Jetta and was about to pull out when another neighbor, identified only as “Ryan,” came over to chat.
As the threesome were involved in conversation, D.D. heard Kumpe’s SUV “start up loudly,” court papers said.
“As she left the complex (and) turned southbound on Elk, she saw the defendant drive up to her vehicle going northbound on Elk in his Tahoe,” the brief said. “He ambushed her Jetta at the front gate to the complex.”
“The defendant was leaning his upper body out of the driver’s window and had a gun in his right hand,” according to the narrative. “Daniels yelled, `Brian stop!’ But the defendant shot into the vehicle multiple times, shooting D.D. once through her upper right arm and once through her lower left arm, and causing two gunshot wounds to the legs of Pamela.”
Ryan was standing nearby when the gunfire erupted and bolted for cover. Kumpe allegedly pursued him, “shooting at him from behind, each shot missing him,” according to the prosecution.
Kumpe sped away from the location, going to where friends were staying at a Perris motel, prosecutors said.
One of the wounds to Daniels’ legs penetrated an artery, and she bled out. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. D.D. was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley for treatment and ultimately recovered.
After convincing one of his friends at the motel to hide his 9mm semiautomatic pistol, Kumpe persuaded another person to drive him to a motel in Lake Elsinore. Along the way, he gave different accounts of what transpired, at one point saying he had resorted to force because he’d been assaulted after complaining about his neighbors’ loud music. He then acknowledged that he “hated” Daniels for calling CPS on him, the brief said.
He remarked that the man he’d also allegedly targeted, Ryan, was a “400-pound … Black dude” who had broken his leg after falling on it during a physical confrontation, the brief stated.
Based on witnesses’ statements and evidence collected at the scene, Hemet police detectives obtained and served an arrest warrant on Kumpe the next day in San Jacinto, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Court records show he has prior convictions for robbery, attempted robbery and burglary.
For More Law and Disorder Visit www.zapinin.com/law-and-disorder