Carjacker convicted of killing man, while co-defendant’s jury hits impasse

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A man involved in carjacking and killing a 24-year-old was convicted of murder and other charges, while the jury for his alleged conspirator, a Desert Hot Springs resident, was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial, court records confirmed Monday.

Trezell Lamone Heckard, 30, of Vallejo was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, burglary and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a burglary for the 2022 slaying of Benjamin Chanes. Jurors hung on separate special circumstance allegations of killing during a kidnapping and killing during a robbery.   

A separate jury weighing the fate of Heckard's co-defendant, 27-year- old Qevon Xavier Harvey of Desert Hot Springs, informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed Friday that after a week of deliberations, a unanimous verdict could not be reached on the same allegations. Koosed declared a mistrial in Harvey's case. A retrial status conference is set for Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Heckard is due for sentencing on April 24. He's being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility. Harvey is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

A third alleged conspirator, Anthony Antoine Wright, 33, of Indio is also accused in the killing. Like Heckard and Harvey, he's also charged with murder, carjacking, kidnapping and burglary, along with special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery, killing in the course of a kidnapping and killing in the course of a burglary.   

Wright is additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Trial proceedings for him are tentatively set to start Wednesday. He's being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

According to an arrest warrant declaration filed by the Riverside Police Department, on the afternoon of March 6, 2022, Chanes and his girlfriend, identified in documents only as "N.D.," were returning to Riverside from Los Angeles in her vehicle, with him at the wheel, when they came to a stop in an unfamiliar area after exiting the freeway and were immediately approached by one of the defendants, allegedly wielding a handgun.  

"The Black male approached the driver's side and ordered Benjamin out at gunpoint,'' the affidavit stated.

Chanes complied, at which point "additional Black males told (N.D.) to get out of the car, and they took her to another waiting vehicle and told her to keep her head down. She did what she was told.''   

The woman later informed Robbery-Homicide Unit detectives that Chanes was seated in her car, while she was forced to drive with several of the defendants in their vehicle, a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. The trip lasted 15 minutes, after which both vehicles were parked outside the Boulder Creek Apartment Complex on Iowa Avenue, according to the declaration.   

Police alleged the defendants hustled Chanes and N.D. into the victim's apartment, pushing the woman into a closet, then demanding to know from Chanes ``where the money was'' kept. For about 10 minutes, the defendants ransacked the apartment, with N.D. in the closet, unable to see where her boyfriend was being held, the affidavit alleged.   

Chanes abruptly bolted from the apartment when the men were distracted, but they gave chase, according to police. While he was attempting to run away, Wright allegedly opened fire on the victim, inflicting multiple gunshots to his back, causing Chanes to collapse on the sidewalk, according to the affidavit.  

The young man died a short time later at Riverside Community Hospital.   

The defendants fled in the woman's vehicle, leaving behind their own Chevrolet sedan, police alleged.  

N.D., who was not injured, emerged from the closet and called 911 moments after the gunfire.

Detectives gathered fingerprint and other evidence from the Chevrolet, leading them to one of the defendants' social media accounts, in which revelations about the shooting ultimately came to light, according to the affidavit.  

The men were arrested at different times over an 18-month span.   

Their co-defendant, Kahlin Cynque Erwin, 30, of Pittsburgh, Calif., pleaded guilty in 2024 to kidnapping and is due for sentencing on June 8. He's free on a $55,000 bond.

Details regarding his and Wright's prior convictions were unavailable.