Man sentenced in 2018 killing of 2-year-old boy
A Kern County Superior Court judge sentenced Kaleb Kessinger to 25 years to life in prison Tuesday for the 2018 murder of 2-yearold Ramon Chavez.
Kessinger will serve concurrent sentences in state prison for the felony convictions of first-degree murder, assault of a child under 8 years old resulting in death and reckless evading of a peace officer. He will also serve a concurrent misdemeanor sentence after being convicted of obstructing/ resisting an officer.
“It’s a happy day for little Ramon,” said Kern County Deputy District Attorney Courtney Lewis, the prosecutor in the case. “He finally gets justice. It was a horrendous crime.”
Lewis explained that while convictions for both first-degree murder and assault of a child under 8 years old resulting in death carry sentences of 25 years to life, they would be served concurrently because they stemmed from the same set of facts.
David Torres, Kessinger’s lawyer, asked Judge John Oglesby during the hearing for Kessinger’s sentence for the third felony conviction — reckless evading of a peace officer — to be served concurrently. Oglesby said Kessinger’s felony conviction for evading the officer was not the focal point of the case, and decided not to impose the three-year sentence consecutively.
However, the prosecution wanted to see Kessinger’s third felony conviction served consecutively, which would have given him a total of 28 years to life in prison.
“Obviously, I wanted (Kessinger) to serve the maximum amount of time,” Lewis said. “I feel that his crime was horrendous and I think that the evading was clearly a part of the crime.”
During the investigation, officers went to Kessinger’s house. When his vehicle approached, it quickly turned around and sped off, according to the DA’s office.
Several patrol units pursued Kessinger, who lost control of his vehicle and crashed on Olive Drive, before he got out and fled, the DA’s office said. Officers found Kessinger hiding out at the Travelodge Motel on Oak Street, where he resisted arrest.
Kessinger was denied probation by Oglesby during the sentencing hearing, with the judge citing the fact that Kessinger was on misdemeanor probation when the murder occurred.
“I’m not considering probation,” Oglesby said. “(Kessinger) is not a suitable candidate for probation for the charges of this nature.”
Lewis noted that the victim’s grandmothers and aunt were present at the hearing and were
“relieved” by the verdict. She also said the victim’s mother, Ayled Chavez, was also relieved. Chavez pleaded no contest to willful cruelty to a child in Ramon’s death and was released from prison in April 2019.
“Ms. Chavez was punished for her crimes. She did serve time in prison for trusting her child with the defendant,” Lewis said. “People also have to remember, she has to wake up every day and her child is not here.”
According to court documents, Chavez said she left her son in Kessinger’s care while she went to see a friend. When she came back, she told police she noticed injuries on Ramon’s head and that he died later that night.
Chavez said she and Kessinger took the body to the Kern River Canyon the following morning and dumped it before later returning to bury the body, according to court documents.
Chavez initially reported to police that her son had been kidnapped by an unknown Hispanic man, but ultimately admitted to officers that she made up that story and that Kessinger was the killer.
“I would say be more vigilant about who you let into your life and who you let around your kids,” Lewis said.
A separate case against Kessinger, related to stealing money from his elderly grandfather, was dismissed in light of the more serious murder conviction, Lewis said.