Crime & Safety
Jury Seated, RivCo Retrial Underway In Car Wash Manager's Alleged Stomping Death
The case centers on the 39-year-old suspect who reportedly became enraged after his dry-cleaning went missing at a Menifee car wash.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA --- A jury was seated today for the retrial of a man accused of causing the death of a Menifee car wash manager in a confrontation over missing clothes.
Jeremy Joseph Robbins, 39, could face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 60-year-old Wesley "Wes" Uyekawa.
In January, a Riverside jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting Robbins. Testimony in his current trial is expected to last about a week.
In the previous trial, Deputy District Attorney Michael Lough largely based his case on a security surveillance videotape that captured most of the March 23, 2014, confrontation at the McCall Storage & Car Wash.
Lough reconstructed events leading up to the encounter, beginning with Robbins' visit to the location on the afternoon of March 22.
Images showed that after the Lancaster man vacuumed out his four-door sedan, he left the business without retrieving dry-cleaning that he'd placed on a fence. A couple hours later, another car wash customer snatched the articles before driving away.
Lough played segments that showed Robbins arriving the following morning, parking in a handicap spot and searching for his dry cleaning. The defendant appeared visibly upset when unable to find the clothing, circling outside the main office, eventually knocking repeatedly on the glass door to the business, at which point Uyekawa answered.
The video recorded no sound as the victim and defendant spoke for the first time uneventfully. Robbins departed the business, but surveillance video showed him returning roughly 20 minutes later. By that time, Uyekawa had gone into the apartment adjacent to the main office, where he lived.
Cameras captured Robbins making his way to the residence, from which Uyekawa emerged moments later carrying a birdcage pan, appearing ready to empty it. The video showed Robbins gesturing and apparently pushing the victim into a thorn bush.
The ensuing 30 seconds were obscured by a wall. However, Uyekawa later told sheriff's investigators that Robbins -- convinced that the car wash manager had stolen his garments and wouldn't give them back -- turned violent. The victim alleged that he was punched in the face and fell to the ground, where he attempted to grab onto the defendant's leg.
Lough alleged that Robbins stomped the older man's stomach before fleeing the scene. The defense insisted that Uyekawa was the aggressor.
The video showed Uyekawa gripping his abdomen in obvious pain. He was transported to Menifee Valley Medical Center for an examination, but was released later in the day.
The victim was found by a co-worker the following morning, dead in his apartment from a ruptured small intestine.
Robbins has a prior felony conviction, but court records did not specify the nature of the offense or where it occurred. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
