Calif. couple arrested for abducting 3 children, killing their mother
LOS ANGELES -- A California couple wanted in connection with a woman’s killing and the kidnapping of her three children in the Los Angeles area were arrested Thursday in Colorado.
Joshua Aaron Robertson, 27, and Brittany Humphrey, 22, were arrested without incident in Pueblo, about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The couple was wanted in connection with the death of Humphrey’s half-sister, Kimberly Harvill, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds along a road in a remote area of Los Angeles County on Aug. 14.
Investigators said the couple kidnapped Harvill’s three young children, who were found safe Wednesday in a motel on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
Humphrey is Harvill’s half-sister, and therefore the children’s aunt.
Humphrey and Robertson were found after officers from the Pueblo Police Department were conducting an unrelated investigation at a local motel, the sheriff’s department said.
Humphrey and an 18-month old baby were found in the hotel, while Robertson was found about two blocks away. The baby girl, who is Robertson’s, was safe.
Harvill and her children had most recently lived in Fresno and were transitory, moving from motel to motel, sheriff’s Capt. Steve Katz said Wednesday, adding that they depended on panhandling to survive.
Harvill was involved with methamphetamine, as were Humphrey and Robertson, Katz said.
Humphrey and Robertson were living in Lebec, the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County where Harvill was recently staying with her children and where she was killed, Mendoza said.
It appears that Harvill and her children had been staying with Humphrey and Robertson, he said.
Investigators know of no ongoing conflict between the sisters, Mendoza said.
An arrest warrant for kidnapping was issued for the couple. Investigators say the couple are considered persons of interest in Harvill’s death.
“Due to the fact that immediately after the murder or sometime shortly after, it is suspicious that they did not come forward to law enforcement and instead they fled eastbound towards other states,” Mendoza said.
The father of Harvill’s children, Kenneth Chad Watkins, killed himself by lying in front of a train last year, according to the Fresno County Coroner.
Authorities said they believe Harvill was killed within 24 hours of being found, though it’s unclear where the killing took place.
Harvill’s Facebook page shows a photo of her with Humphrey and a man who resembles Robertson two days before her body was found.
Harvill’s children were in the process of being returned to California, where authorities said it would be determined whether they would be placed with relatives or in state care.