Roundup: Simi rollover crash traps 1, man sentenced in homeless murder case
Firefighters pull patient from overturned car
A rollover crash in Simi Valley Wednesday afternoon trapped one person in the wreckage and slowed traffic on Royal Avenue.
The single-vehicle accident was reported shortly after 4:15 p.m. on Royal Avenue at Vaquero Drive, according to the Ventura County Fire Department and Simi Valley Police Department.
A red Chevrolet Cobalt with two people inside ended up on its roof in a grassy area next to a tree, a fire department photo shows.
One person was able to get out of the car on their own and suffered minor injuries, said fire Capt. Brian McGrath.
Firefighters extricated the second person, using struts and airbags to stabilize the overturned car. That person was taken by ambulance to Los Robles Regional Medical Center with what appeared to be major injuries that weren't life-threatening, McGrath said.
Traffic was restricted on Royal between Madera Road and Elvado Drive as Simi Valley police investigated and the scene was cleared out. The roadway was open as of 6 p.m., police officials said
The cause of the crash was still under investigation Wednesday evening.
Man sentenced in fatal stabbing of homeless woman
A homeless man who fatally stabbed an elderly homeless woman in Oxnard three years ago was sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison on Wednesday.
James Lee Beam, 26, had pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder. Previously, he had been found incompetent to stand trial and was sent to a mental health hospital for treatment. In August 2022, proceedings resumed in Ventura County Superior Court after a judge determined Beam was competent.
The victim, Sybil Woodbury, was 67.
The sentence was agreed to by prosecutors and the victim's family when taking into account Beam's mental health issues, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. In the plea agreement, Beam also admitted to the special allegation he used a knife to kill Woodbury.
Beam and Woodbury were both living in the same shopping center in Oxnard, in the 200 block of West Pleasant Valley Road, at the time of the attack, according to the DA's account.
On the night of April 9, 2020, Beam followed Woodbury to a darkened area of the parking lot and stabbed her. Prosecutors say Beam suffered from severe mental illness and was under the delusion Woodbury was a threat to him and to his children, who lived out of state. Woodbury died from a stab wound to the chest about 45 minutes later. Beam was arrested about a week later by Oxnard police and reportedly confessed to the murder.
The Ventura County Public Defender's Office and DA investigators looking into Beam's background found he had extensive mental health issues that developed when he was a teenager in Iowa, prosecutors said.
That history was balanced with public safety needs when the sentence was agreed to, Senior Deputy DA Theresa Pollara, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement. Woodbury's brother reportedly told prosecutors he wanted Beam to be treated humanely while also taking into account community safety.
The brother described Woodbury as "very sweet, charming and happy," prosecutors said, which reflected what other homeless residents she knew told police investigators.