Crime & Safety
Jury Impaneled for Trial of Man Accused of Killing Menifee Car Wash Manager
Jeremy Robbins is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
By City News Service:
A jury was seated Wednesday for the trial of a man accused of delivering blows that proved fatal to a Menifee car wash manager after wrongly blaming the victim for stealing some of his clothing.
Jeremy Joseph Robbins, 39, of Lancaster could face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 60-year-old Wesley Uyekawa.
After two days of screening prospects, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed swore in a jury to hear the case at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Opening statements are slated for Monday.
According to sheriff’s investigators, the defendant and Uyekawa did not know one another. Uyekawa was the manager of a self-serve car wash and storage facility near Interstate 215 and McCall Boulevard, where he lived on-site.
Late in the afternoon of March 22, 2014, Robbins washed his sedan at the facility and, while vacuuming the vehicle, hung some dry cleaning on a nearby chain-link fence, investigators said. He drove away without retrieving the articles.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Thrum testified at a February 2014 preliminary hearing that the defendant returned shortly after 9 the following morning and searched for the clothing, but it was gone.
Robbins asked Uyekawa what had happened to the clothing, but the victim was clueless, Thrum said. The defendant became infuriated and left the location but returned 20 minutes later and confronted Uyekawa outside his office, accusing him of stealing the dry cleaning, according to testimony.
Uyekawa attempted to walk into his office, but Robbins allegedly blocked his path, then punched him in the face.
“Evidence shows that Mr. Uyekawa fell to the ground and grabbed the defendant’s leg,” Deputy District Attorney Michael Lough told City News Service. “As he’s holding onto the defendant’s leg, the defendant kicks him off. He then stomped on Mr. Uyekawa’s abdomen.”
Robbins left the business, driving back to Lancaster, according to the prosecution. He had been in Menifee to visit his sister.
Uyekawa called 911, and deputies arrived a short time later and took a report from the victim before he was transported to Menifee Valley Medical Center for extreme abdominal pain, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Huskey.
He said Uyekawa left the hospital later that day. However, around 9:30 a.m. on March 24, one of Uyekawa’s co-workers discovered him dead on the floor of his apartment. According to an autopsy report, Uyekawa suffered a ruptured small intestine which culminated in blood poisoning.
Investigators said there were security surveillance cameras at the business that aided in identifying Robbins. He was arrested without incident the following week outside his house at 44223 Gillan Ave.
Investigators later determined that another car wash customer had taken the defendant’s dry cleaning.
Robbins is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
