ABC 10News wants you to start your day on the right foot with our updated microclimate weather forecasts, the latest news from overnight and this morning, and more to help get you out the door informed and ready to go.
Here's what you need to know in the Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, edition of the 10News Wake Up Call newsletter.
TODAY'S TOP STORY:
New court documents obtained by ABC 10News reveal a history of mental health issues and violent outbursts for a man accused of killing his mother in El Cajon and placing her body in the trunk of a car earlier this week.
According to the documents, 24-year-old Richard Leyva was diagnosed with acute psychosis and bipolar disorder.
The documents describe instances where Leyva punched an older man in the face and threatened deputies with a knife.
Leyva was in a community care program but finished it last year.
El Cajon Police investigators believe Leyva killed his mother, 51-year-old Jamison Webster, and then put her body in the trunk of a Hyundai Sonata.
Police said Leyva then led officers on a chase that eventually ended in a crash and his arrest.
Leyva was booked into San Diego County Jail on suspicion of murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and evading law enforcement. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon.
A motive and cause of death are unknown.
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BREAKING OVERNIGHT:
(AP) -- Authorities say Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home.
Foul play is not suspected, however authorities did not release any details of the circumstances of their deaths and say an investigation is ongoing.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila says deputies responded to a request to do a welfare check at the home Wednesday around 1:45 p.m. and found Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and a dog dead.
The 95-year-old Hackman was one of the industry’s most respected and honored performers.
His dozens of films included Oscar-winning roles in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven” and he had a breakout performance in “Bonnie and Clyde.”
CONSUMER:
San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera is set to propose a $25 minimum wage for tourism workers in the city.
Elo-Rivera is expected to introduce the proposal at the very first meeting of the Select Committee on Addressing Cost of Living on Thursday morning.
If the proposal is adopted, city hotel, event center, and janitorial workers would all be paid $25 per hour.
The proposed ordinance will also increase that minimum wage each year based on the cost of living determined by the Consumer Price Index or the Department of Labor.
Elo-Rivera told ABC 10News, “This is super simple. People who work in this city should afford to live in this city. People in the economic … the backbone of the economic engine of our city, they need to be able to afford to live here. We should not be forcing them into poverty jobs; one job should be enough.”
This year, minimum wage in the city of San Diego went up to $17.25 per hour.
If the proposal is passed by the Select Committee on Addressing Cost of Living and the full City Council, it could go into effect at the start of 2026.
WE FOLLOW THROUGH:
On what would have been his 13th birthday, family members and friends gathered at the Imperial Beach Pier on Wednesday to honor Elijah Smith.
The teen was shot to death at a house party in National City last November, and three months after Elijah’s life was tragically cut short, the killer has not been caught.
ABC 10News reporter Dani Miskell has been covering this unsolved case and remains in touch with Elijah’s family. She follows through on where the investigation stands.
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