A 29-year-old man accused of gunning down his father during an altercation at the victim’s Eastvale home reentered a not guilty plea Friday to murder and other charges.
Kelvin Jackett Jr. of Eastvale was arrested in Oct. 2022 following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the slaying of 51-year-old Kelvin Jackett Sr.
Along with murder, the defendant is charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. His next court date was scheduled for July 8.
Jackett is being held on $2 million bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Baeza and the District Attorney’s Office, about 12:15 a.m. on Oct. 17, 2022, the father and son were involved in a dispute that led to gunfire inside the victim’s residence in the 12000 block of Craigburn Circle, just west of Interstate 15.
Patrol deputies and paramedics reached the location within minutes and discovered Kelvin Jackett Sr. dead from gunshot wounds. Baeza said that the defendant was also shot, suffering unspecified wounds.
He was hospitalized and has spent the last month and recovering.
Central Homicide Unit detectives conducted a four-day investigation that culminated in Jackett being formally arrested while still in the hospital.
A possible motive for the alleged attack and whether both men were armed at the time was not disclosed.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.