Background: The Superior Grocers store on Union Avenue in Bakersfield, California (Google Maps) Inset left: Juan Urvina (Monarch Memorial) Inset right: Demetrius Ford (Kern County District Attorney’s Office)
The individual accused in the death of a California grocery store employee in the store’s parking lot has been convicted of what officials have described as a “senseless and tragic” act.
Demetrius Ford, 32, was found guilty by a jury on Friday of voluntary manslaughter, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and involuntary manslaughter. The charges resulted from an altercation that occurred on the night of January 1, 2023.
As midnight approached, Ford and a friend went to the Superior Grocer on Union Avenue in Bakersfield, in California’s Central Valley region, to buy additional drinks for the party they were attending, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. The store, however, was closed to the public.
Upon realizing this, the suspect is said to have backed his vehicle into the parked truck of an employee, who was sitting in it waiting for his midnight shift to start.
The two men had a “short verbal exchange” with Ford outside of his car, and as he walked back to his vehicle, the employee “used his phone to take a picture of Ford” and his vehicle, the district attorney’s office said.
This reportedly made Ford “angry” – and he is said to have approached and begun “hitting the employee who took his picture.” Two other employees of the grocery store who were in the parking lot at the time arrived to defend their colleague. Ford’s friend was also reportedly involved in the fight.
One of the Superior Grocer employees was Juan Urvina, 54, who was “acting as a peacemaker” before Ford threw him to the ground, authorities said. Ford then focused his attention on another worker, and, as he and his friend were “assaulting one of the employees,” Urvina stood up and tried to help his colleague.
“Before Urvina could help, Ford forcefully punched Urvina in his face, causing him to immediately go limp, and fall down, with the back of his head striking the concrete surface,” the district attorney’s office said.
Urvina was brought to a nearby hospital, but he “never regained consciousness” and he was declared dead the next day.
“Ford’s decision to violently assault three employees without provocation was senseless and tragic,” Kern County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Kinzel said. “Ford assaulted a smaller and older man despite his clear physical advantage. Ford’s complete disregard for the value of Mr. Urvina’s life warrants the prison sentence that he should receive.”
Ford is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19, and, according to prosecutors, faces up to 11 years behind bars. He was arrested five days after the attack on Urvina but was released after the district attorney’s office requested additional investigating, Bakersfield NBC affiliate KGET reported. He was then rearrested on May 30, 2024.
When law enforcement questioned Ford after his first arrest, he blamed the fight on someone “talking s—,” the outlet reported, citing court documents that added that he admitted he was drunk at the time of the fight.
