Two men accused of killing Kimberly Harvill whose body was found in Gorman two years ago appeared in court this week.
Joshua Aaron Robertson, 28, and Alex Richard Valdez, 29, both from the Fresno area, appeared Tuesday in Department 105 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
Both men were ordered to return to court on July 11 — Robertson for a pre-trial conference and Valdez for the start of a jury trial, Paul Eakins, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
Robertson and Valdez are charged with murdering Harvill, whose body was found lying in the brush by a motorist on Aug. 14, 2016, along Gorman Post Road, north of California State Route 138, in Lebec, near the Kern County line. Â She had been shot.
They also face a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, making them eligible for the death penalty.
A Fresno woman – who was arrested with Robertson in August 2016 in connection with the same killing – pleaded no contest in September to kidnapping three young children of her half-sister, Harvill.
Brittney Sue Humphrey, 23, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Humphrey and Robertson were alleged to have kidnapped the three young children of Kimberly Harvill a little more than a year ago. The three children were ages 5, 3 and 2 when the crime occurred.
The children were later found abandoned in New Mexico at a motel. Humphrey and Robertson were arrested in Colorado in October 2016 on suspicion of murdering Harvill and of then kidnapping Harvill’s three children.
Harvill’s body was found lying in the brush by a motorist on Aug. 14, 2016, along Gorman Post Road, north of California State Route 138, in Lebec, near the Kern County line. She had been shot.
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