Accused Palm Springs cop killer pleads not guilty to additional charges
The man accused of killing two Palm Springs Police officers pled not guilty to additional charges filed against him at a hearing Friday. Our cameras were denied access for the hearing.
27-year-old John Hernandez Felix faces three additional charges of attempted murder, bringing the total attempted murder counts to six. That’s on top of two counts of first degree murder, and special circumstance allegations of killing a peace officer and committing multiple murders.
Felix maintained his original not guilty pleas on the other charges. Prosecutors added charges after Felix’s preliminary hearing in December.
He accused of fatally shooting veteran training Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27 and injuring another officer after they responded to a domestic disturbance call in October 2016.
District Attorney Mike Hestrin has alleged that Felix, who’s accused of firing armor-piercing rounds from an AR-15 semi- automatic rifle while clad in body armor, specifically targeted police. Hestrin said his prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
Felix underwent a two-day mental competency bench trial in September, featuring testimony from three psychologists, after Dolan alleged that “traumatic amnesia” prevented Felix from remembering much of the day of the shooting. His attorneys said Felix remembered the argument with his sister that triggered the 911 call and police response, then has no memory of the day until law enforcement launched tear gas into the home and shot him with non-lethal beanbag guns about 12 hours later.
Criminal proceedings were reinstated after Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony R. Villalobos ruled that even if such amnesia was genuine, it would not prevent Felix from contributing to an adequate defense.
Vega and Zerebny were the first Palm Springs police officers killed in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 1962, when Officer Lyle Wayne Larrabee died during a vehicle pursuit. The only other death in the department was that of Officer Gale Gene Eldridge, fatally shot Jan. 18, 1961, while investigating an armed robbery.
Vega had been with the department 35 years, five years past his retirement eligibility, and had planned to finish his career last December.
He had eight children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Zerebny had been with the department for a year and a half and had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter, Cora, four months earlier.
