Local police chiefs react to death of deputy, criticize suspect’s release despite criminal history
Local police leaders are reacting to the death of a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy who was killed in the line of duty Thursday afternoon in Jurupa Valley.
“We feel devastated for them. And certainly when a colleague goes down, it affects everybody," said Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills.
Deputy Isaiah Cordero, 32, was shot during a traffic stop. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“We feel your pain. We are with you. We support you. And we'll do anything that we can do to work with you to make sure that you know they have the opportunity to say goodbye to their colleague," said Chief Mills.
The Riverside County Deputy Sheriff Relief Foundation started a "Help A Hero" page, on which people can make donations to the Cordero family.
Donations can be made at: https://helpahero.com/campaign/deputy-isaiah-cordero
The suspect in the shooting, William Shea McKay, was a felon with an extensive criminal history going back more than 20 years.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco revealed on Thursday that the tragedy could've been prevented if McKay had been convicted on his third strike, a kidnapping arrest in Nov. 2021. If sentenced, he would've received 25 years to life, but instead, a judge reduced his bail twice, allowing him to be free.
Chief Mills tells us it’s a big problem all cities are facing.
“We are arresting the same parolees in the same PCRS guys, the people who got of prison early, over and over and over in the courts are failing to hold people accountable.”
The San Bernardino County District Attorney's office revealed in a statement that despite its office's request to set his bail at No Bail, the judge reduced it to $500,000 and his sentencing was continued. McKay posted bail in March and was granted a second continuance in July. He failed to appear in court in October.
Chief Mills says violent and dangerous people need to serve time for their offenses. Mills also referenced the more than 1,000 case dismissals by Riverside County courts due to a massive backlog during the pandemic. He says it leaves room for more violence in the community.
“Some of these are violent cases where women were choked and, and had restraining orders in place. If that's the kind of, you know, community that we're going to live in, we're going to experience enormous problems and a lack of public safety.”
Cathedral City also sharing a similar sentiment.
Statement from Cathedral City Police Chief George Crum:
"The murder of Riverside Sheriff’s Deputy Isaiah Cordero on December 29, 2022 is another example of a flawed criminal justice system in California. The deputies death is yet another example of our communities being victimized by individuals with extensive criminal records who should be serving time for their crimes in prison. Instead of the criminal justice system protecting victims of violent crimes, a third strike criminal was allowed to be free and murder Deputy Cordero in cold blood. Law Enforcement works tirelessly to solve heinous crimes and remove violent predators from our communities in order to prevent further violent crimes and future victims. The sad result is another violent felon with three strikes in California was released, instead of being sentenced to prison and locked up. The death of Deputy Cordero was absolutely preventable!"
