Kidnapping, Murder Case Leads To 40-Year Prison Sentence For Hemet Man

MURRIETA, CA — A felon who abducted and fatally shot a man on a rural property south of Hemet, then tried to claim insanity, was sentenced Monday to 40 years to life in state prison.

Derrick Anthony Edgerson, 50, of Hemet, pleaded guilty in February to first-degree murder and kidnapping, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, for the slaying of the victim, identified in court documents only as "G.P."

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Under the pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, two related felony charges were dismissed in exchange for Edgerson's admissions.

During a hearing Monday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Superior Court Judge John Molloy certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the stipulated sentence on the defendant.

The killing occurred in March 2021.

Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Carroll said at the time that G.P. was forcibly held at an isolated residence in the 40500 block of Newport Road, roughly a mile east of Diamond Valley Lake.

Sometime during the morning of March 18, Edgerson shot the man to death, according to investigators.

A possible motive was not revealed.

Carroll said the victim's remains were discovered the same day, and homicide detectives initiated an investigation that pointed to Edgerson as the perpetrator. He was taken into custody without incident within 24 hours of the killing.

Court records indicated the defendant originally entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. He underwent a series of psychiatric examinations in 2023 and 2024 that did not validate his claims, and the case proceeded toward trial until the plea agreement was reached.

Court records show Edgerson had documented prior felony convictions for grand theft and domestic violence.