Martinez, Calif. – Today, 62-year-old Kevin Jerome Easter has been found guilty of first degree murder. The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office retried the case after the original conviction was overturned on appeal in 2019.
Easter shot his wife multiple times on the night of August 7th, 2013, in their Pittsburg residence. During his trial in 2014, his defense attorney declared that Easter was not competent to stand trial for his crimes, which included a firearm enhancement and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Competency issues were renewed in 2015 by his defense, but a judge ultimately found him guilty. He was sentenced to 65 years and eight months in prison. His appeal in 2019 reversed the conviction, resolved the competency issues, and returned the case to Superior Court for a retrial – where the prosecution prevailed in court.
“After many years, the victim’s family and the community have closure on a tragic and senseless murder,” said Deputy District Attorney Jordan Sanders. “This prosecution would not be possible without the hard work of the Pittsburg Police Department, the time and energy of the neighbors who came to testify about details which happened so long ago, and the victim’s family for having the strength to endure another trial. The overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s guilt justified a conviction for first degree murder.”
Easter will be sentenced at a future date and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
04-197959-0| The People of the State of California vs. Kevin Jerome Easter
Pittsburg: Kevin Easter Arrested on Homicide Charges
The Pittsburg Police Department have arrested Kevin Easter, a 51 year old Pittsburg Resident, on murder charges in the shooting of a 52-year-old female on Wednesday night.
Police and emergency personnel crews responded to the incident on the 100 block of Army Street where they found Janice Easter suffering from gunshot wounds and immediately began providing lifesaving efforts, however, she died from her injuries.
Her injuries included multiple gunshot wounds—police would not state how many.
According to Lt. Rathnesh Raman, during the investigation, Kevin Easter was identified as the suspect and was later arrested for murder located away from the scene of the incident.
Police stated that Easter and the victim were married and were involved in an on-and-off again relationship where they recently separated.
Easter is a Pittsburg Resident who was recently discharged from parole for an assault with a deadly weapon conviction. Easter is in custody for murder on our case.
This is the forth homicide in Pittsburg in 2013. Easter was booked into the County Jail in Martinez on Thursday and held on $1 million bail on suspicion of murder.
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[…] Competency issues were renewed in 2015 by his defense, but a judge ultimately found him guilty. He was sentenced to 65 years and eight months in prison. His appeal in 2019 reversed the conviction, resolved the competency issues, and returned the case to Superior Court for a retrial – where the prosecution prevailed in court. — full story […]
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