Crime & Safety
Fatal Beating Death In Moreno Valley: Defendant Pleads Not Guilty To Murder
Brandon Jermain Thigpen, 37, of Moreno Valley was arraigned Tuesday on one count of first-degree murder.
MORENO VALLEY, CA — A man accused of fatally beating a 38-year-old Moreno Valley resident during a confrontation at a house on the east end of the city pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder.
Brandon Jermain Thigpen, 37, of Moreno Valley was arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the death of Sean Street.
Thigpen was arraigned Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel, who scheduled a preliminary hearing for April 16 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
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The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
He allegedly attacked Street early on the afternoon of March 17 in the 14000 block of Big Horn Avenue, near Oliver Street, less than two blocks from Riverside University Medical Center, according to sheriff's Sgt. Alberto Loureiro.
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He alleged there was an unspecified confrontation between the men at a two-story residence, and during the encounter, Thigpen inflicted life-threatening injuries, though authorities did not disclose the exact means.
The sergeant said witnesses, whose identities were not released, loaded Street into a vehicle and drove him the short distance to the hospital, where "he succumbed to his injuries" that night.
"Sean was a smart, caring, light-hearted, one-of-a-kind person," his sister, Morgan Pelham, said on a GoFundMe page set up to raise donations for the Street family. "Sean carved a path in life for himself that we are so proud of ... This was an unexpected tragedy for us."
She did not elaborate on what allegedly occurred.
Central Homicide Unit detectives questioned everybody at the house and at the medical center, where the defendant was taken into custody the morning after the attack. He was not injured.
Thigpen has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $35,000 as of Tuesday afternoon. The page can be found at gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-sean-street.
