On April 23rd, 2021, 36-year-old Fabian Herrera, a bail agent, broke into a man’s home in Palm Springs and shot him, killing 33-year-old David Spann. Herrera has since then been arrested for suspicion of murder. Herrera was a bail agent; however, he was not licensed in the correct legal way, and he had a criminal record that should have made possessing a firearm illegal for him. Authorities did not give any further information into the victim other than he was wanted by the bail agency that Herrera worked for. 11 years prior to this incident, Herrera was convicted for a felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting great bodily injury and was additionally convicted for a DUI 4 years ago in 2017. Riverside County Court records show that the victim, Spann had a bail bond filed earlier in the month of April 2021, but he had no warrants or any failure to appear or other cases in that county after being charged with a misdemeanor.
On April 23rd, 2021, the Palm Springs Police department responded to the victim’s home after an alarm went off and they were told that someone was in the process of breaking in. However, the Palm Springs Police department got another call around the same time from someone who identified as a bail agent who said he was on the scene and was trying to arrest the victim. Herrera additionally told the police department that the “suspect”, later deemed victim, had a knife and he needed assistance. The police arrived on the scene and found the victim with a knife and one officer used his stun gun on him and they reported that he was not complying. The police department reported that at some point, Herrera fired his gun and killed David Spann. The father of the victim, William Spann, spoke out and made his opinion that the police should have used their stun gun on Herrera, not his son clear. The father of the victim told reporters that his son had a mental illness, and the police were aware of it. He added that the Palm Springs Police department was complicit in his son’s death due to their actions. Furthermore, Bill Low, who owns Lucky Bail Bonds located in Indio said that he does not use tactics like arresting individuals who do not wear an ankle bracelet, for example, and stated that he did not know Herrera. Additionally, reporters contacted Justice Bail Bonds after the incident, and the person who answered said that she was not aware of any one of their employees who has a connection to a shooting that happened in Palm Springs.
Murder can be defined as the unlawful killing of another individual/human being. Being held on suspicion of murder means that this individual is suspected of having committed this crime or been involved in it. Murder is a felony and consists of multiple different types of murder with many enhancements. To learn about the different enhancements and the sentences that they carry, click here. When facing a charge for a violent crime, such as murder or crimes with enhancements, hiring the right lawyer is one of the most important things someone can do. To learn more about our office and violent crimes, click here.