On August 14, 2016, the body of Kimberly Harvill was discovered by a motorist along Gorman Post Road, north of California State Route 138, in Lebec, California. Harvill had been brutally murdered, and her body was found lying in the brush. The investigation revealed that she had been shot, and her death was linked to a broader criminal conspiracy involving multiple individuals.
The primary suspects in Harvill's murder were Joshua Robertson and Alex Valdez.
Robertson, along with Harvill's half-sister, Brittney Sue Humphrey, kidnapped Harvill's three young children, aged 5, 3, and 2, following the murder. The children were later found abandoned in a motel in New Mexico. Robertson and Humphrey were apprehended in Colorado, while Valdez was arrested in Fresno. The motive behind Harvill's murder was tied to her being a witness to a shooting in Fresno involving Robertson and Valdez, which occurred just days before her death.
In the subsequent legal proceedings, Joshua Robertson entered an open, no contest plea to one count of first-degree murder, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of arson, and additional charges related to firearm possession and flammable materials. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Alex Valdez was found guilty of first-degree murder and received a similar sentence of life imprisonment without parole. The jury also found a special circumstance in Valdez's case, alleging that he killed a witness, which was deemed true.
Brittney Sue Humphrey, who played a role in the kidnapping of Harvill's children, pleaded no contest to three counts of kidnapping and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The tragic case of Kimberly Harvill's murder highlighted the severe consequences of criminal activities and the lengths to which individuals would go to silence witnesses and cover up their crimes. The swift arrests and subsequent convictions of the perpetrators brought some measure of justice to Harvill's family and underscored the importance of law enforcement efforts in solving such heinous crimes.
