TULARE, Calif. (KERO) — The violent trend in just north of Kern continued Friday with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office releasing details of a killing that involves a father and son and has ties to Bakersfield.
Only a week before the alleged murder, Giovani Abujalil was released for another violent crime, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said he committed back in 2019. This act of alleged patricide, or killing of one’s father, can be more personal.
It was three phone calls that led TCSO Porterville Substation to investigate a rural neighborhood in south Porterville Thursday morning.
But what TCSO’S Homicide Sergeant, Bryan Clower, said they found when they got there was a 32-year-old Bakersfield resident, Giovanni Abujalil with a dead passenger.
“We determined that foul play was suspected. We located trauma on the victim’s body consistent with the case being a homicide”
Later, officials would identify the murdered passenger as 75-year-old Bakersfield resident, Julio Abujalil, Giovanni’s father.
“There was a significant amount of evidence located in the vehicle, related to the son Giovanni being the person responsible.”
Since the Abujalils are Bakersfield residents, Clower said the Bakersfield Police Department assisted TCSO with a part of the investigation.
“We decided to author a search warrant for the residence. We responded down, we located other evidence at the scene that was related to our homicide investigation, and we were able to determine that the crime did not occur at the residence in Bakersfield. We were able to determine that father and son resided at the residence alone.”
But this is not Abujalil’s first violent offense.
Only a week before, officials say the 32-year-old had been released from prison. Now, Abujalil is considered a “two-striker.”
“His original commitment to prison at that point was from an elder abuse case that was investigated by the Bakersfield Police Department. That case was investigated back in 2019.”
Officials are asking that anyone with information on either of these investigations to call the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at 559-733-6218, or they’re anonymous tip line at 559-725-4194.
