A 79-year-old Military veteran was brutally murdered on Monday throughout a carjacking in Southern California.
James Norman was at a gasoline station in Norco, California, cleansing his Chevy Trailblazer with the engine working when 29-year-old Ryan Hewitt jumped within the driver’s seat and drove off.
Norman was hanging out the again door and was dragged after which thrown from the car. His household stated he was simply too frail to get out in time.
Hewitt was charged with felony carjacking and second-degree homicide. He’s being held on $1 million bail.
The sufferer’s household arrange a GoFundMe to assist pay for funeral bills and medical payments.
James Norman is survived by his beloved spouse, two daughters, two sons-in-law, and one grandson.
“Jim lived a modest, fundamental life, but additionally an adventurous life. He began off within the Military and labored throughout a number of fields together with development and car transport, and at one level, even took to the skies as a pilot. His ardour for journey for work and exploration led him to many corners of the usa, and his tales usually captivated these round him. Whether or not constructing one thing along with his fingers or sharing tales from the street, Jim introduced power and authenticity to all the pieces he did,” the household stated.
BREAKING: California carjacker drives away with proprietor earlier than dragging him to his dying.
Gavin Newsom has turned California into hell. pic.twitter.com/rioUOcvrTp
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) Could 13, 2025
ABC 7 reported:
The household of a 79-year-old man dragged and killed in a brutal carjacking Monday says they have been on the point of meet him for dinner earlier than the lethal flip of occasions.
The sufferer’s daughter tells Eyewitness Information that her dad was an Military Veteran who was in frail well being. She stated he had survived some shut calls in his lifetime, from falling off a ladder to even strolling away from a aircraft crash. She says it’s laborious understanding her dad died in such a violent method.
James Norman — referred to as Jim to his household and associates — was on the point of go to dinner along with his daughter and son-in-law when he made a fast cease at an ARCO station on Hidden Valley Parkway in Norco.
“So he in all probability went to wash his automobile, and he was in all probability ready for us to name him and say, ‘Hey dad, we’re on our method now and we’re going to return get you,’” stated Norman’s daughter, Nicole Lauritsen.
However as a substitute of calling her dad, Lauritsen says she acquired a name from a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.
“‘Your dad’s been in an accident. Is there any technique to observe his cellphone?’ And I stated, ‘No, however I can observe his automobile,’ and that’s type of the place it led,” Lauritsen stated. “Nothing made sense on the time, I feel, clearly as a result of it was an investigation, they couldn’t say something.”
SAY HIS NAME: James Norman (79)
U.S. Military Veteran. Dragged and kiIIed in a brutaI carjacking whereas cleansing his automobile in California on Monday.
Zero outrage. pic.twitter.com/CclVW2ElUz
— Finish Wokeness (@EndWokeness) Could 14, 2025
