At approximately 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, sheriff”s deputies and rescue personnel from Cal-Fire responded to Firethorn Road in Hidden Valley Lake on a report that a 10-year-old female had been stabbed with a knife.
Cal-Fire medics tended to the victim, 10-year-old Tessa Faith Walker, daughter of Ronald R. Walker, a Lower Lake physician.Deputies also identified a second female victim, 13-year-old Kristen Marie Walker, who had also been stabbed.
While both victims were being treated, deputies quickly learned from eyewitness accounts that a male adult was responsible for the assaults and that the suspect had fled to a home a short distance away on Sugar Bush Court.
The suspect, later identified as 31-year-old James Ronald Pagan, was located and detained for questioning at the Sugar Bush Court home while sheriff”s detectives were summoned to the scene for further investigation.
Tessa Faith Walker was transported to the Redbud Adventist Hospital in Clearlake where she succumbed to her injuries and died. Kristen Marie Walker was flown to the Children”s Hospital in Oakland for treatment of her injuries.
Sheriff”s detectives processed the crime scene throughout the night and the suspect, James Pagan, was subsequently arrested and booked at the Lake County jail on charges of murder, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and willful cruelty to a child.
As of press time Tuesday, March 25, Pagan remained in custody with a $1 million bail.
Friends of the family have established the Ronald R. Walker M.D. Foundation at Bank of the West to aid the family with expenses. Donations to the foundation can be sent to Bank of the West at 15050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422, or directly to the family, PO Box 713, Lower Lake, CA 95457.
