Red Bluff murder suspect sentenced to 110 years in prison

Julie R. Johnson, Corning Observer, Calif.
·2 min read

Jan. 2—The Red Bluff man who was in an armed stand-off with Corning police in 2020, has been sentenced in Tehama County Superior Court to 110 years to life in prison for the murder of Arturo Eugene Bent III.

Judge Matthew McGlynn handed down the sentence to 40-year-old Elfego Chavez Acevedo who had been found guilty of first degree murder with personal discharge of a firearm causing death.

Acevedo reportedly shot and killed Bent at 10:15 p.m., Aug. 3, 2020 outside of FoodMaxx on Belle Mill Road in Red Bluff.

Bent was able to walk into the store where he collapsed with a single gunshot wound to the upper chest. He was transported from Food Maxx to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In sentencing, Judge McGlynn considered the facts of the murder, saying the homicide was especially heinous as Acevedo executed Bent, said Tehama County District Attorney Matt Rogers.

Rogers added, the judge also considered Acevedo's prior criminal history, which included multiple prior felony convictions, two prior strikes under the state's three strike law, and that the defendant was on parole at the time of the murder.

"The sentence helps to ensure public safety," Rogers said. "It holds a cold-blooded murderer fully accountable for his actions, and hopefully brings a measure of closure and peace to (Arturo) Bent's family and loved ones."

Acevedo, who at the time was wanted on a felony murder warrant, was in a six-hour stand-off with Corning police Dec. 11, 2020, on 1200 block of East Avenue when he was shot in the arm by a Red Bluff police officer during the incident.

Acevedo was staying in a shed at the East Avenue property when the Corning Police Department received an anonymous tip concerning the man's whereabouts.

Six hours into the stand-off Acevedo gave himself up and was transported by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment of his injury and then booked into the Tehama County Jail where he remained throughout the adjudication of the case.