Mother of slain Riverside County deputy calls for judge to resign
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- The mother of a slain Riverside County sheriff's deputy on Friday demanded the resignation of a judge who had previously released the lawman's shooter despite a violent criminal record.
Deputy Isaiah Cordero's mother eulogized his memory during a heartfelt funeral ceremony at Harvest Christian Fellowship Church.
Sobbing throughout her eulogy, Rebecca Cordero said she last saw her son on Christmas Eve.
"We do not know how we are supposed to carry on without you," she said. "Your selflessness and determination will not be forgotten."
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Although Cordero was officially killed by gunfire, Rebecca Cordero blamed the current political climate and anti-law enforcement sentiments, as well as San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Cara D. Hutson.
She took aim at the judge who had deferred action on a case involving Deputy Cordero's killer, a three-strike felon.
"Judge Cara Hutson, my family is devastated. My son was a good man," she said. "My family and Isaiah's brothers and sisters and his community demand your resignation."
The words roused applause throughout the church.
She said she believed the traffic stop that ended her son's life likely saved other people from peril.
"You fought the good fight, my boy," she said.
The service ended with one final call marking Cordero's end of watch.
Cordero, 32, was shot and killed last Thursday during a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Cordero, a motorcycle patrolman, stopped 44-year-old William Shea McKay of San Bernardino, for reasons still under investigation but possibly related to irregularities with the black pickup he was driving.
McKay had a long and violent criminal history stretching back to before 2000 that included kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Bianco.
The sheriff said McKay was convicted of a "third strike" offense in 2021 that should have put him in state prison for 25 years to life, but the judge lowered his bail, allowing his release, and later released him following an arrest for failing to appear at his sentencing.
Cordero joined the 4,000-member strong department as a corrections deputy, worked in local jails, became a sworn deputy in 2018 and completed motor school to become a motorcycle deputy in September.
He qualified posthumously, for what would have been the second year in a row, to be decorated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work taking impaired motorists into custody.
The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this post
