Emotional Election For Judge’s Seat After Baby’s Murder

“He was always so happy. He was a mama’s boy for sure.”

23-year-old Katie Tagle remembers her 9-month-old son Wyatt, who was just learning to pull himself up on his feet.

“I’m still in shock, it hasn’t fully hit me.”

On January 31, along a mountain road in Twin Peaks, Tagle’s ex-boyfriend, Stephen Garcia, shot their son and then shot himself.

Just 10 days earlier, Judge Robert Lemkau denied Tagle a restraining order. She believes it could have saved the little boy.

“Judge Lemkau signed my baby’s death sentence. He gave Stephen that last push to go for it,” said Tagle.

Tagle says her abusive two and a half year relationship with Garcia began to spiral out of control back in August.

“He got angry at me and punched me in my face and knocked me out,” said Tagle. “I left and couldn’t deal with it anymore.”

Tagle says Garcia began stalking her and sending her threatening emails and text messages.

She went to the Joshua Tree courthouse to ask for a restraining order.

A judge there turned her down.

Garcia grew more upset.

He wrote another rambling email about their relationship — a story with two different endings.

“The happy ending was me getting back with him and we’d have a happy family. And, the tragic ending was he was going to take Wyatt to the lake, put Benadryl in his bottle and kill him that way. And, Stephen was going to kill himself.”

After that, a sheriff’s deputy got Tagle an emergency restraining order.

Then she went before Judge Lemkau to get the restraining order extended.

But, the pile of evidence she delivered — did her no good.

“I tried to plead with him and he kept cutting me off. I told him the police feel he’s a threat. He didn’t want to listen to me,” said Tagle. “A five minute hearing for my baby’s life, it’s not fair, not fair at all.”

Transcripts from the hearing show Judge Lemkau didn’t believe Tagle — and several times — accused her of lying and making up a story.

When it was done, the judge restored joint custody.

Tagle last saw Wyatt on January 28, as she gave him to Garcia for the court-ordered visitation.

In the early morning hours of January 31, baby Wyatt and Garcia were found dead.

Lemkau has since said, given the evidence, he stands behind his decision.

But he may lose his seat.

Tagle and family friends around the Morongo Basin are now campaigning for James Hosking, a San Bernardino Deputy D.A. who decided to run after he heard about the case.

It’s an election that has turned extremely personal for hi-desert residents.

“Lemkau could wind up in our courthouse. San Bernardino moves the judges around. If he winds up getting back in, he could wind up here in Joshua Tree and we don’t want him. We don’t want another family to go through what Katie has,” said Debra Underwood, a family friend.

“As long as Lemkau’s out of there, it’s going to be a good thing,” said Tagle. “A huge victory actually.”