Riverside County Courts

Authorities still had found no motive Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a woman and her daughter in a crowded courthouse, but acquaintances speculated the suspect had been under intense stress because of a dog-mauling case in which his young daughter was a prosecution witness. "He's been talking kind of off-the-wall about religion," said Judy Brown, a kitchen worker for the Val Verde School District.

A professional skateboarder on trial in Riverside County in the death of his 2-year-old son testified Monday, denying that he had any part in the boy's death or that he had tried to cover it up. Neil Heddings, dressed in a gray suit and with his voice cracking at times, described how he discovered his son's body on the morning of Nov. 23, 2002, in his San Jacinto home. Heddings, 31, said he picked up the child from his small bed and screamed, "Marcus! No! No, dude! No!"

A 9-year-old girl and her mother, apparently preparing to testify in a dog-mauling case, were shot and killed by a gunman as they sat in a Municipal Court waiting room for prosecution witnesses early Tuesday afternoon. Riverside County sheriff's deputies said the suspect, Fred Wayne Helvy, 32, attempted to use his own 5-year-old daughter as a shield as he fled the courthouse.

The last of the wards of the Riverside County court who were hospitalized over the weekend after taking a strong prescription drug at an Orange County camp were released Monday in good condition, authorities said. Paul Rout, assistant director for the Department of Social Services in Riverside County, said the seven campers ingested prescription tranquilizers that one had smuggled into the Lazy W Ranch on Hot Springs Road, where they spent the weekend.

A Mead Valley man who allegedly shot and killed a neighbor and her young daughter in a Lake Elsinore courthouse earlier this week was indicted by a Riverside County grand jury Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder. Fred Helvy, 32, who could face the death penalty because of special-circumstance allegations filed in the case, will be arraigned this morning in Riverside County Superior Court, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Mitchell.

The last of the wards of the Riverside County court who were hospitalized over the weekend after taking a strong prescription drug at an Orange County camp were released Monday in good condition, authorities said. Paul Rout, assistant director for the Department of Social Services in Riverside County, said the seven campers ingested prescription tranquilizers that one had smuggled into the Lazy W Ranch on Hot Springs Road, where they spent the weekend.

A professional skateboarder on trial in Riverside County in the death of his 2-year-old son testified Monday, denying that he had any part in the boy's death or that he had tried to cover it up. Neil Heddings, dressed in a gray suit and with his voice cracking at times, described how he discovered his son's body on the morning of Nov. 23, 2002, in his San Jacinto home. Heddings, 31, said he picked up the child from his small bed and screamed, "Marcus! No! No, dude! No!"

More than 2,500 county motorists have taken advantage of an award-winning pilot program allowing them to take an interactive traffic-school program at home, Ventura County officials say. Available to motorists who haven't been to traffic school in 18 months, the take-home program helps those who might have problems attending Saturday or evening classes, said Vince Ordonez, assistant executive officer in Ventura County's Superior and Municipal courts.

Hillary Butorac is a traffic school pro. She's attended four times. And when she got another ticket last week for making an illegal left turn, Butorac figured she was in for another dull Saturday of driver detention. But when she went to court, the 29-year-old actor from Hancock Park got a pleasant surprise: She received the option of a take-home traffic course to complete at her own pace. "I loved the fact that I could be in my home, in my pajamas, watching the video," Butorac said.

A lawsuit percolating through the Riverside County courts could knock the auto industry for a spin if a jury buys the argument that stability systems shouldn't have been offered first only to buyers of luxury vehicles. The suit filed by survivors of two people killed in the 2002 rollover of a Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle argues that General Motors Corp. was negligent in not providing an electronic stability control system on the mainstream SUV model.

A Mead Valley man who allegedly shot and killed a neighbor and her young daughter in a Lake Elsinore courthouse earlier this week was indicted by a Riverside County grand jury Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder. Fred Helvy, 32, who could face the death penalty because of special-circumstance allegations filed in the case, will be arraigned this morning in Riverside County Superior Court, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Mitchell.

Authorities still had found no motive Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a woman and her daughter in a crowded courthouse, but acquaintances speculated the suspect had been under intense stress because of a dog-mauling case in which his young daughter was a prosecution witness. "He's been talking kind of off-the-wall about religion," said Judy Brown, a kitchen worker for the Val Verde School District.

A 9-year-old girl and her mother, apparently preparing to testify in a dog-mauling case, were shot and killed by a gunman as they sat in a Municipal Court waiting room for prosecution witnesses early Tuesday afternoon. Riverside County sheriff's deputies said the suspect, Fred Wayne Helvy, 32, attempted to use his own 5-year-old daughter as a shield as he fled the courthouse.

Six months after they were supposed to vacate a rundown roadside trailer court, more than a dozen families remain in the Corona Growers Trailer Park, paying their weekly rent and wondering where they will go when they are finally forced to leave. Most are resigned to the fact that they eventually will be evicted. But after months of searching for another park that will accept them and their older trailers, they have all but given up.