In the early morning hours of March 28, 2015, a tragic event unfolded in a Bremerton, Washington mobile home park that claimed the life of 2-year-old Kaden Lum, a male child. Kaden, along with his mother, was residing with 29-year-old Heather Kelso. A gunman opened fire into their home just after 2:00 a.m. Kaden's mother, who was with him at the time, tried to shield him from the gunfire, but he was fatally wounded and died at a local hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.
Kelso was also killed in the attack. Another man who was visiting the home was shot and injured but managed to flee to a neighbor's home to call for help.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly pointed toward a person of interest, Geraldo "Jerry" Castro DeJesus, the 30-year-old ex-boyfriend of Heather Kelso. Investigators learned that Kelso had a protection order against DeJesus, citing fear for her safety following their breakup. DeJesus was a worker at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and he was arrested there without incident on August 20, 2015, nearly five months after the shooting. Although he was considered a person of interest early on, detectives spent months gathering enough evidence to secure an arrest and build a strong case for the prosecution.
Prosecutors argued that Geraldo DeJesus was a jealous ex-boyfriend who went on a rampage. The night of the murders, DeJesus was aware that the infant child he shared with Kelso was not at the residence. Evidence presented during the trial included bloody shoe prints and 11 9mm shell casings found at the scene. A test-fired round from a gun in DeJesus' possession matched the shell casings. His defense attorneys claimed that investigators had focused on him too quickly, to the exclusion of other potential suspects. DeJesus maintained his innocence, claiming he was sleeping at the time of the shooting.
In September 2016, a Kitsap Superior Court jury found Geraldo DeJesus guilty of two counts of premeditated murder for the deaths of Kaden Lum and Heather Kelso. He was also convicted of attempted murder for shooting Kelso's friend and for firing toward Kaden's mother as she tried to protect her son. In December 2016, a judge sentenced DeJesus to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, with an additional 680 months in prison. Following the verdict and sentencing, Kaden's father expressed that while the conviction was comforting, it would never bring his son back.
