The Riverside Hall of Justice. Courtesy County of Riverside
The defense may pin some of its hopes for an acquittal on a witness Thursday in the murder trial of a cheating wife, her son and her lover who are all accused of fatally beating the woman’s husband after he discovered her sex affair.
Darla Anne Bennett, 45, her 28-year-old son, Sonnie Chavira, and 48-year-old David James Harrison are suspected of killing Juan Servin of the Riverside County city of Moreno Valley in December 2014.
The defendants are all charged with first-degree murder and a sentence- enhancing allegation of killing for financial gain. Harrison is additionally charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and a sentence-enhancing allegation of committing a crime while on bail.
After more than a week of testimony, the prosecution called its final witness Tuesday. The defense may call a witness before resting Thursday, after which closing arguments are scheduled at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The defendants informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Ronald Taylor Tuesday that they do not wish to take the stand.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by sheriff’s Detective Sean Freeman, the 47-year-old Servin was beaten to death the night of Dec. 4, 2014, in the garage of his and Bennett’s single-story home at 16418 Hazelwood Court.
The defendants and victim were drinking when Servin became agitated and allegedly made disparaging remarks about Bennett, who had been romantically involved with Harrison for two months, Freeman said.
According to the detective, Bennett later told investigators that she stepped out of the garage and returned moments later to find Harrison and Chavira striking her drunken husband on the head with blunt instruments, including a broken broom handle. An autopsy later revealed he had been hit 22 times.
Freeman stated that investigators spoke to several witnesses, who alleged that Bennett and Servin had been at odds for a while, and she had once expressed a desire to “kill that son-of-a-bitch.”
Harrison and Chavira allegedly wrapped Servin’s body in a yellow comforter, taped it up and tossed it into the back of his pickup truck.
Harrison allegedly drove into the Badlands, a sparsely populated area between Moreno Valley and Beaumont, and dumped the remains alongside the eastbound Moreno Valley (60) Freeway.
According to Freeman, blood spatter was later identified on Harrison’s jacket, in the defendant’s Corvette and a Nissan Sentra that he’d rented around the time of the killing. He and Bennett were arrested in Long Beach a few days later.
Chavira was located in Dallas two months after the crime and was taken into custody without incident. He has no documented prior felony convictions.
According to court records, Bennett, also known as Darla Anne Sell, has a prior conviction for embezzlement from 2006.
Harrison, also known as David James Butler, has priors for being a felon in possession of a concealed weapon and evading arrest. He has convictions outside the county that resulted in prison time, though court records did not specify any details.
Bennett and Chavira are each being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. Harrison is being held in lieu of $1.2 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
–City News Service
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