Jury finds man guilty of stabbing murder

A Kern County jury Wednesday found a man guilty of second-degree murder and felony child endangerment in connection with the stabbing death of his mother.

Jurors found Dante Issac fatally stabbed Stephanie Body on Aug. 24, 2020, in the apartment the two shared, while Issac’s 4-yearold daughter was in the home.

Law enforcement officials found the young girl in the bathtub when they arrived to investigate.

Issac stabbed his mother after methamphetamine abuse, which, prior to the attack, resulted in hallucinations and paranoid delusions that were observed by family members and others who knew the defendant.

“Despite multiple efforts at intervention by family, police and mental health services, Issac repeatedly refused to accept long-term treatment and continued to abuse methamphetamine,” according to a DA’s office news release.

Immediately before attacking his mother, Issac had locked himself in his room and fashioned the murder weapon out of a kitchen knife he’d attached to a broomstick, according to officials.

Issac faces a sentence of up to 38 years to life in prison on May 5 when he’s due back in court for sentencing.

The Bakersfield Police Department arrested 17 suspects, 13 adults and

four juveniles, as part of a two-day operation targeting retail theft, according to a BPD news release.

Police focused on the area around Valley Plaza mall in the 2700 block of Ming Avenue, according to the release.

Approximately $2,900 in stolen property, mostly clothing and cosmetics, was recovered, the release added.

The effort was part of the Retail Theft Partnership, an association of local businesses and the Police Department that meets periodically to share information on habitual offenders and theft

Any business interested in the Retail Theft Partnership can contact the Bakersfield Police Department coordinator at 661-326-3053.

The Kern County coroner’s office identified a man who died April 21 as

the result of stab wounds he sustained at Planz Park.

Daniel Roy Jones, 41, of Bakersfield, died at 5:09 p.m. at Kern Medical.

He was stabbed in the park at 1601 Planz Road in Bakersfield around 4:05 p.m., according to a coroner’s office news release, which also noted the Bakersfield Police Department was investigating.

The Kern County coroner’s office identified a man who died at the

scene of an April 21 traffic collision.

Albert Lee Lepper, 64, of Benicia, died at 2:37 p.m. after the vehicle he was driving on Highway 46, west of Corcoran in Buttonwillow, collided with another.