In a gruesome turn of events in El Cajon, Richard Anthony Leyva, 24, has pled not guilty after being accused of a shocking crime involving the death of his mother, 51-year-old Jamison Webster. Surveillance footage from Motel 6 captured Leyva moving his mother's body to the trunk of her vehicle following her last visit to his room. Prosecutors say Leyva's brother later approached the car only to find his mother's lifeless body and was then struck by the vehicle as Leyva fled the scene.
The chase that ensued ended with Leyva being taken into custody after a high-speed pursuit, which involved him crashing the vehicle containing his mother's body into several other cars. According to a statement obtained by Hoodline, the El Cajon Police Department found the deceased woman in the trunk, the discovery coming after Leyva was restrained using a Taser. It is noteworthy that neither Leyva's motives nor his relationship with the deceased were confirmed at the time of the arrest.
Details of Leyva's previous mental health issues have surfaced in the wake of the incident. Court documents reveal a history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of "Acute Psychosis" in 2021 and an unspecified bipolar disorder. These diagnoses came to light after an incident where Leyva threatened deputies with a knife. The defensive posture of Leyva's attorneys concerning his mental health history remains unclear. Still, the past diagnosis suggests a troubled and perhaps forewarned history of behavior that Mike Webster, Jamison’s ex-husband, indicated to have been a concern to law enforcement in the past.
As Leyva now faces a maximum sentence of 28 years to life, he remains held without bail. The investigation is still ongoing, with the medical examiner's office indicating evidence of strangulation in Webster's death. In the interim, prosecutors are building a case based on surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts, including the harrowing details shared by Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Bigdeli, who told NBC San Diego that Webster was seen entering Leyva's room and later extracted as a "lifeless body." Leyva's next court date is set for March 7.
