Crime & Safety
Two Men Arrested In Killing Of Woman Found Near San Jacinto Roadway: Sheriff's Dept.
Sheriff's officials say that a woman who was found dead near a San Jacinto roadway had actually been shot to death before being dumped.
BANNING, CA – A pair of Banning men have been arrested on suspicion of murder and accessory to murder, after a woman's body was found near a San Jacinto roadway earlier this week, the sheriff's department says. Forty-year-old Latoya Calhoun was initially thought to be killed in a "motor vehicle related incident," but new information suggests that she had actually been shot to death, reports indicated Thursday.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Calhoun was found dead near the 2600 block of Esplanade Avenue in San Jacinto on Saturday morning.
"Officers determined the female was the victim of a motor vehicle related incident," an initial press release from the agency stated.
However, on Thursday officials released an update on the case, and announced the arrest of two men after an autopsy was conducted.
"[The Coroner’s Office] examination revealed the decedent... was the victim of a homicide based on gunshot wounds she received," the sheriff's department said. "Investigators from the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit assumed the investigation with the assistance of the San Jacinto Police Department."
Ultimately arrested on suspicion of murder was 40-year-old Traevon Stewart of Banning. Sixty-two-year-old Michael Bird, also of Banning, was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder. Both were taken to the Banning jail where Stewart was booked on no bail and Bird was booked on $50,000 bail, records indicated.
Anyone with additional information in the case was asked to call Investigator Stoyer at the Central Homicide Unit at (951) 955-2777.
Jail booking photos of Michael Bird, left, and Traevon Stewart, right, courtesy of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
