Suspect pleads not guilty in US Sikh family's murder
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Oct, 2022 12:33 PM
New York, Oct 14 (IANS) The accused in the kidnapping and killing of four members of an Indian-origin Sikh family in California, including an eight-month-old baby, pleaded not guilty to all the charges in court.
On Thursday, Jesus Salgado appeared in Merced County Superior court wearing shackles and a safety garment, ABC30 reported.
He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, along with arson and possession of a firearm by a felon.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Salgado will be back in court on December 15.
Relatives announced that the family would be laid to rest on Saturday in Turlock.
The funeral will be closed to the public but anyone who would like to support the family can gather outside the venue.
The bodies of eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, 39 were found in an "extremely remote" area near the intersection of Indiana and Hutchins roads.
Salgado is said to have had a long-standing feud with the family and was a former employee in their trucking business.
In a mindless act of revenge, he murdered the family.
It was reported that the suspect was undergoing medical treatment after he attempted to kill himself before officials arrived to arrest him on October 4.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke has called for Salgado to face the death penalty.
An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing 14 children, one teacher and injuring others, Gov. Greg Abbott said, and the gunman was dead. It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since the shocking attack in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, almost a decade ago.
Cases of the smallpox-related disease have previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. But in the past week, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, U.S., Sweden and Canada all reported infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa.
Police found the victim off the side of a road with apparent gunshot wounds. The man died from his injuries at the scene and his identity is being withheld until his next of kin is notified, the police said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing that Pfizer's treatment was still too expensive. He noted that most countries in Latin America had no access to Pfizer’s drug, Paxlovid , which has been shown to cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization or death by up to 90%.
Paxlovid has become the go-to option against COVID-19 because of its at-home convenience and impressive results in heading off severe disease. The U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase enough pills to treat 20 million people.
About two dozen states reported suspected cases after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a call for doctors to be on the lookout for surprising cases of hepatitis. The cases date back to late October in children under 10. So far, only nine cases in Alabama have been confirmed.
