Patricide Murder
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A felon who fatally shot his father while experiencing mental health issues and fighting with the victim in his Eastvale home was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Kelvin Jackett Jr., 31, of Eastvale, last month admitted one count of voluntary manslaughter and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a firearm during a felony under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a murder charge against the defendant.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Superior Court Judge Dwight Moore certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
The defendant gunned down 51-year-old Kelvin Jackett Sr. on Oct. 17, 2022.
According to a post-preliminary hearing defense brief filed earlier this year, the defendant was a diagnosed schizophrenic with bipolar tendencies who lived with his father, mother and 15-year-old brother, Kyler Jackett, at 12308 Craigburn Circle, just west of Interstate 15.
On the day of the shooting, Kelvin Jackett Sr. noticed his eldest son behaving abnormally and became concerned when he couldn’t find one of the three handguns that he kept in his two-story home.
Jackett told his youngest son to be on alert and remain in his room because his brother was “having an episode,” according to the defense brief.
The victim also handed Kyler a .40-caliber revolver for his protection.
The boy later told sheriff’s deputies that he heard a shot ring out downstairs around midnight and went to investigate, finding his father on top of his older brother in the living room. The elder man had been shot in the abdomen and was trying to subdue Kelvin Jr., who was then armed with the 9mm pistol that his father had been carrying.
Kelvin Jr. aimed the gun at his father’s head and pulled the trigger, but the firearm jammed, according to the witness.
Kelvin Sr. yelled for his youngest son to “shoot” his brother, and the youth complied, firing rounds into his brother’s face and chest, at which point the assailant went limp, according to the brief.
Kelvin Sr.’s wife called 911, and the victim was taken to a regional trauma center, where he died a short time later from the shot to the abdomen.
According to court papers, Kelvin Jr. underwent surgery and spent a month recovering from his wounds. He told detectives that he had been carrying a pellet pistol and knife in a bag, and as he headed for the front door of the house, his father confronted him, demanding to know “what’s in the bag?”
When the defendant refused to hand over its contents, the victim grabbed him, and a struggle ensued, during which Kelvin Jackett Jr. managed to wrest control of the 9mm pistol with which his father was armed and pull the trigger as the two men tumbled to the floor, shooting him in the stomach, court papers said.
“The circumstances at preliminary hearing established that, at best, the gun assault was committed in response to Sr.’s act of lunging at junior, then introducing lethality by producing a firearm in a sudden quarrel,” the defense stated.
The missing pistol that had been a matter of concern for the victim — a Glock semiautomatic — was later discovered by investigators tucked behind a bedroom dresser.
Kyler Jackett was not charged with any offenses arising from the shooting.
Kelvin Jackett Jr. had a prior first-degree burglary conviction out of Orange County, according to court records.
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