FELIX TRIAL DAY 5: Details emerge on alleged cop-killer’s demeanor after shooting

Follow News Channel 3’s coverage of Day 6 of the trial here

Testimony continued Wednesday in the trial of an ex-con accused of gunning down two Palm Springs police officers and trying to kill others when they approached his mother’s home to investigate a domestic disturbance.

On Tuesday, Mario Serrano — one of several officers who survived the onslaught of more than 20 rounds fired at officers — testified in the trial of 28-year-old John Hernandez Felix, who is facing murder and other charges for allegedly firing an AR-15 rifle at officers from the Felix family home in the 2700 block of Cypress Avenue on Oct. 8, 2016.

Veteran officer Gilbert Vega, 63, was fatally shot, along with rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27.

Deputy Joseph Fitzgerald, a peace officer with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, was first to take the stand today. Fitzgerald was a member of the SWAT Team who ultimately moved on the Felix house and took the suspect into custody.

Special Section: Justice for the Fallen

Jake Ingrassia is in court today covering the fourth day of the trial – follow his notes from court below:

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“When Sgt. (Shawn) Flinn yelled `cover fire,’ I got up and was looking for a position to return cover fire,” Serrano said. “That’s when I saw Sgt. Flinn trying to pull Officer Vega.”

When they got to the patrol car, Serrano got inside and pulled Vega on top of him.

“He was on top of me, so his back was on my chest,” Serrano said. “I was letting him know that we were here and we were getting him help … It felt like hours. It felt like forever.”

Another officer drove the car away from the scene, and Vega stopped responding when firefighters pulled him from the vehicle, Serrano said. The officer was later pronounced dead at Desert Regional Hospital.

Officer Dave Etchason, who drove Vega and Serrano away from Felix’s home, testified Monday that he returned to the scene to retrieve Zerebny.

“I pulled my car up into the driveway in the front lawn,” Etchason said. “As I’m getting out, that’s when there was a rupture of gunfire that occurred.”

Etchason said he got out of the car and “yelled out her name,” but the officer was unresponsive with her face up to the sky.

“Her eyes were open. Her skin was pale,” Etchason said. “And, I knew, she was dead. But, I didn’t want to leave her there.”

Felix is facing a possible death sentence if convicted. He is charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, with special circumstance allegations of killing police officers and committing multiple murders.

Special Section: In the Line of Duty

Also on the stand Tuesday, a sheriff’s SWAT deputy who helped take Felix into custody said the defendant was “passively resisting” as he exited his family’s home after a 12-hour standoff. Deputy Adam Ball said it took Felix 10 minutes to walk the short distance from the home to a SWAT team BearCat armored vehicle.

Ball said Felix repeatedly lowered his hands, then tried to open the door of the BearCat. At that point, Ball ordered another deputy to fire a bean- bag round at Felix, he said. Felix fell to the ground, but while deputies tried to take him into custody, he spit at them and said, “You’re next. I’m going to kill you. … I’ve seen your faces, you’re dead,” Ball testified.

Vega and Zerebny were the first Palm Springs police officers to be 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, who was fatally shot on 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 retire in 2018. He had eight children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Zerebny had been with the department for 18 months and had just returned to duty following maternity leave, having given birth to a daughter, Cora, four months before her death.

Felix has a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, for which he served time in state prison.

Defense attorney John Dolan said during opening statements of the trial that Felix had no intent to kill anyone, with his history of family neglect, low educational achievements, drug abuse and an intellectual disability showing he did not act out of premeditation.

But Deputy District Attorney Manny Bustamante said there is clear evidence of premeditation and intent. He pointed to the initial 911 call made by Felix’s mother, saying the call includes audio of the defendant helping his mother give the dispatcher the family’s address, “so she could tell 911 where the officers should go to.”

Bustamante said Felix, who was wearing body armor, fired 21 shots through the front door and drywall of the home. Ten of those shots hit either officers or their vehicles, Bustamante said.