MORENO VALLEY: Riverside County Regional Medical Center staffers raise questions.

06/26/2002

By LISA O'NEILL HILL and DOUGLAS BEEMAN
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

MORENO VALLEY - Officials at Riverside County Regional Medical Center are investigating the hospital care given to Jeffery Owens, who died there June 6 after being stabbed outside a gay bar in Riverside.

Dr. W. Benson Harer, the Moreno Valley hospital's chief of staff, confirmed the hospital is conducting an investigation, which could be completed as early as next week.

But Harer declined to elaborate on what the hospital was looking into, saying the staff is complying with the wishes of Owens' family.

"They have requested that we not release any information about this," he said.

County spokesman Raymond Smith said hospital staff raised an issue about Owens' care. He would not elaborate. Smith said Owens' family and the county coroner's office had been notified.

"The issue came up and the important thing was to make sure the family was made aware of what was going on," Smith said.

Smith said the confidentiality of medical records prevents him from discussing the case.

Jeff Holland, Owens' partner, declined to comment Tuesday. Owens' brother and mother could not be reached.

Sgt. Shelley Kennedy-Smith, a spokeswoman for the county coroner's office, said the cause of Owens' death is "open and pending." The cause of death would not be released until after toxicology results come back, which typically take six to eight weeks.

Owens, 40, of Moreno Valley, was stabbed in the back in the parking lot of The Menagerie bar just before midnight on June 5. He had gone to the defense of his friend, Michael Bussee, 48, who also had been punched and stabbed. Police have called the attacks hate crimes.

Bussee and Owens did not realize they had been stabbed until they were on their way back to Owens' home in Moreno Valley. Both went to Riverside County Regional Medical Center and Bussee was treated in the emergency room.

Owens had been stabbed at least four times and needed surgery. By 3 a.m. Owens was out of surgery, Bussee has said. But at 6 a.m., Bussee has said he was told that Owens had to go back into surgery. Owens died shortly after 8:30 a.m.

Five reputed gang members pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges and hate crime allegations in connection with Owens' death. A Riverside woman also pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to murder.

Reach Lisa O'Neill Hill at (909) 368-9462 or loneillhill@pe.com