By Allen Payton

In this digital day and age, the Antioch Herald has had an oversight by only offering a hard copy and snail mail approach to voting in the 2015 Antioch People’s Choice Awards.

Someone say “duh!?!”

You can now email in your ballot to us at info@antiochherald.com by Saturday, March 14 (that’s tomorrow) and save yourself the time and cost of mailing or dropping off your ballot to our office.

So, if you haven’t yet voted and still want to choose your favorite Antioch businesses for special recognition and be entered to win gift certificates from local businesses, then download a ballot by clicking on the link at the top of our Home Page, completing it and emailing it to us. Ballots must be received, postmarked or date stamped by tomorrow, March 14.

Thank you for participating, forgiving us for this oversight and welcoming us to the 21^st Century! LOL

By Acting Lieutenant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On August 24, 214 at approximately 12:23 AM, Antioch Police Officers responded to a report of a shooting at a home in the 200 block of Lawton St. The officers arrived to find an adult male victim incapacitated from multiple, apparent gunshot wounds. Life saving measures were taken by the arriving officers and medical personnel, and the victim was transported to a local area hospital. He was ultimately pronounced deceased at the hospital. This case is currently being investigated as a homicide by the Antioch Police Department Investigations Bureau. We are in the preliminary stages of this investigation, and no further information will be released at this time.

UPDATE: After this homicide occurred, the Antioch Police Department requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in locating and arresting Carlos Ventura (22 years old, out of Antioch). Carlos was wanted on a warrant for the 8/24/14 murder of Deon Anderson (30 years old, out of San Francisco).

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at approximately 11:55 AM the U.S. Marshalls requested the assistance of the Antioch Police Department as Ventura had fled from a vehicle they had stopped in the 1000 block of Claudia Court. APD officers arrived and quickly set up a perimeter. It was learned that Ventura had entered an apartment of an acquaintance. Ventura surrendered shortly thereafter without incident.

19 year old Viktoria Martin out of Antioch was the driver of the vehicle that Ventura had been in. She was arrested and brought to APD for questioning and subsequently sent to the Contra Costa County Main Detention facility in Martinez.

Ventura will be booked into the Contra Costa Main Detention Facility in Martinez on the charges of Murder, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Felon in Possession of Ammunition as well as a parole hold. Ventura’s bail for the charges is $1,100,000 with no bail allowed for the parole hold.

Viktoria Martin was booked on accessory and obstruction charges with a bail of $500,000. No photo of Martin available at the time of this writing.

No further information will be released at this time.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Vanderpool with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6988. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

By Sergeant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at approximately 7:00 AM, a 12-year-old female was walking to school in the rain. While she was walking near the 2200 block of Sycamore Drive, a black male adult stopped his vehicle next to her and asked her if she wanted a ride. The 12-year-old female took off running eastbound on Sycamore Drive. The black male adult followed the female and asked her a second time if she would like a ride. The female took off running towards Antioch High School and advised a security guard of the incident.

The female described the black male as being in his late 30’s with an unshaven face, driving a white or gold vehicle that had an appearance similar to a PT Cruiser.

Officers are currently investigating the incident in order to determine if any crime was committed. Officers ask that the involved male or anyone with information regarding this incident contact the Antioch police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441.You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

By Allen Payton

Kimberly Saunders, one of three people arrested for murder and other charges in the shooting death of Chris Monico, on Monday, March 2, 2015, after being released without any charges filed against her, says it was an accident.

Also charged and still being held on murder charges, are her husband, Tony Belfield and her nephew, Richard Ludlow.

Saunders claims Monico was brought to her and Belfield’s Antioch home by her brother and Monico lived with them for over a month before the tragic incident, hiding out from people who wanted to harm him.

In an email to the Herald, on Monday, March 9, Saunders wrote, “Dear Christopher Monico’s family. We are sorry for your loss…Christopher was not killed in cold blood. We loved Christopher. It was a mere accident we didn’t know it was him running about the car.”

“Christopher stayed with us for a whole month-and-a-half, with my nephew, my husband and me. I would never, neither my husband or my nephew ever hurt him. We were together every single day,” she added.

“I just wanted to tell you guys I’m very very sorry so sorry we lost him we love him too and know he was your immediate blood family but we love them, too,” Saunders continued. “I took care of him he was my responsibility… and then this happens…& I just am lost for words I really don’t know what to say, you know. I’m sorry I don’t know what to say it’s like I said it wasn’t intentionally done.”

UPDATE 3/11/15: In an interview, today, Saunders provided a more detailed explanation of what occurred.

“My brother, who had broken up with his girlfriend, Chris and my nephew didn’t have a place to stay. They came to stay with us. We were staying with someone else. That wasn’t even our house. We were looking for our own house.

One day my husband and Chris were looking for a friend of ours that was fixing our car stereo.

There were two guys there, a black guy and a Hispanic guy. As Tony and Chris drove away the two men opened fire on them. This was three days before Chris’ death.

When asked why they didn’t call the police after the two men shot at Tony and Chris, she stated, “We’re not cop callers. It is what it is.”

“Tony and Chris said they’d never seen those two in the area, before” she stated.

The next time they saw them, again was on the day Monico was shot and killed and, she claims is what led to the tragedy.

Saunders said that on the day of the shooting “Chris said ‘we saw the same two guys who shot at us and they circled around us a couple times,’” Saunders said. “So I told him to go back to the house and stay inside.”

“We [Belfield, Ludlow and Saunders] drove around looking to see if we could find the two men. But, we didn’t see them. We drove around for a couple hours. But they were gone. So, we went shopping. Then when we got back, there was an argument between Chris and my nephew Richard. I told Chris to go cool off and we went to go the 7-11 to get a Slurpee.”

“When we got back we could see Chris outside. He said he was alright. I had to go make a run somewhere else, and he said he was going to go to a friend’s house. Then no more than five minutes later we got a text from Chris that the two guys who shot at him and Tony were in Hudson Court. We live around the corner. It seemed like the guys were over there looking for him. We turned around to go back to Hudson Court to park and to see if we knew who the guys were and my nephew [Ludlow] yelled ‘somebody’s running up on the car’ and without hesitation Tony shot out the window a warning shot to get them to back up. He wasn’t intentionally trying to shoot anyone. We didn’t know anyone was shot until 10 and a half hours, later, the next day,” Saunders explained.

“After my husband shot the gun, my nephew just drove off. Guns aren’t supposed to be around my husband. The gun that was left in the car was Chris’ gun,” she added.

When asked if they had heard Chris cry out, Saunders replied “No. No. Nothing. We didn’t hear anybody. Chris was supposed to be in the house with his friend.”

The friend lived on Hudson Court.

“We were driving and we saw the police coming down the street, no sirens, nothing.

My nephew didn’t have his lights on. We were told that the police were going to pull us over for a traffic stop.

But, my nephew got a little nervous and he panicked because there was a gun in the car.”

“It made it look really bad,” she stated. “So, when the police got behind us, it seemed like they were after us. He ran a red light and then it went from there. It was a high-speed chase.”

That ended on Mahogany Way, where Ludlow crashed the car into the garage of a house in the 1700 block of Mahogany Way, and the three were arrested by Antioch Police.

The case is still under investigation by the police. The original articles on this case can be viewed here and here.

By Luke Johnson

Not many 17-year-olds can say they inspire nearly everyone they encounter. But that is the case for Antioch High School senior Damani Jackson-Wright.

“Damani is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, and without his presence at practice, the intensity we have now wouldn’t be the same!” Antioch shooting guard Victor Anguiano exclaimed. “He doesn’t affect every single kid directly, but he motivates others, especially me.”

What makes him a unique athlete for varsity basketball and track is that Jackson-Wright has an extremely rare birth defect called Meromelia, leaving him without a left hand and forearm.

When basketball coach Andrew Riva met Jackson-Wright, he was skeptical initially, but that changed quickly.

“I thought to myself, ‘How is this gonna work?’” Riva said. “But it took all of about five minutes for me to realize it was going to work.”

Jackson-Wright played just about every sport growing up, and has always been a huge video gamer He uses the end of his left arm, which he refers to as “the nub,” to stir the analog stick, and will use his left knee to tap the left trigger button on the back of the controller.

But it was not all fun and games for Jackson-Wright as he matured, because other kids would sometimes pick on him for his disability.

“Growing up he always got made fun of,” his cousin Cameron Schmidt said, who is a senior on Deer Valley High’s basketball team. “I felt like it was my responsibility and the rest of the families’ responsibility to stick up for him. But now, he has learned to stick up for himself. He shrugs it off and is really strong about it now, but growing up it was kind of hard.”

Jackson-Wright’s has been on the varsity basketball team for two seasons, and has been competing in varsity track since his freshman year. Schmidt, along with teammates and coaches, added that Jackson-Wright made these teams from strictly merit and not out of pity.

His role on the team is not one with a lot of playing time, but still serves significant value and requires leadership. When given the opportunity, the 5-foot-6 guard has proven why he deserves to be on the hardwood by draining multiple contested three-pointers.

He also had an assist that was featured on Cal-Hi Sports’ Top Plays of the Week last month.

“Without him, we wouldn’t have the record we have now, that’s for sure,” Anguiano said about the Panthers who are playoff bound for the first time in four years.

Joseph E. Canciamilla, the County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters, notifies all interested parties that the Contra Costa County Elections Office will be open from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 14, 2015.

The office will be open for the March 17, 2015 7th State Senatorial District Special Primary Election for voters who wish to pick up or drop off a vote-by mail ballot, vote in person, or receive other voter services. The Elections Office is located in Martinez at 555 Escobar Street.

The 7th Senatorial District includes voters in East Contra Costa, the Lamorinda and San Ramon Valley areas, Concord, Walnut Creek, and Clayton. To view a map of the 7th Senatorial District, go to http://sd07.senate.ca.gov/district-map.

For more information or directions call (925) 335-7800, our toll free number (877) 335-7802 or access our website at cocovote.us.