HOW?

California Deputy Killed by Man With Violent Criminal Past Allowed Free: Sheriff

Isaiah Cordero, 32, was killed by William Shae McKay during a traffic stop, authorities said.

The suspect accused of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy dead in Southern California on Thursday had an “extensive violent past” and had committed a “third strike” offense last year, authorities said. Isaiah Cordero, 32, was killed after he pulled over a truck in Jurupa Valley, east of Los Angeles, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference. Suspect William Shae McKay, 44, was later located and killed in a shootout with other deputies, Bianco added. The sheriff said McKay’s criminal record stretched back over two decades and included convictions for robbery, kidnapping, and the stabbing of a California Highway Patrol dog. Bianco also said that McKay had been convicted of a “third strike” offense in 2021 which should have seen him sentenced to 25 years to life, but a San Bernardino County judge lowered his bail and later allowed his release after an arrest for failing to attend his sentencing. “He should have been immediately sentenced to 25 years to life,” Bianco said. “We would not be here today if the judge had done her job.”