Beaumont Man Guilty of Killing Cat City Store Owner During Robbery Attempt

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A man who shot a Convenience Store owner in Cathedral City during an unsuccessful robbery was found guilty on Thursday of first-degree murder along with several other charges.

A jury in Indio took one full day to deliberate before determining that Charles Lamar Campbell, aged 23 from Beaumont, was guilty for the killing of 61-year-old Chris Sgouromitis from Cathedral City back in 2021.

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Along with murder, the panel convicted Campbell of attempted robbery and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 7 at the Larson Justice Center. Campbell, who is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center, is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Meantime, the prosecution and defense on Thursday completed closing statements in the separate trial of co-defendant Joel Ortiz Hidalgo, 23, of Desert Hot Springs, and that jury went behind closed doors to begin deliberations late in the afternoon.

Hidalgo is also being held without bail at the Indio jail.

As stated in a court filing by the District Attorney’s office, on February 21, 2021, Campbell and Hidalgo were cruising around the Coachella Valley in Hidalgo’s Acura with the intention of buying some marijuana. After their attempt to make a deal failed in Palm Springs, they drove toward Cathedral City. There, Campbell guided Hidalgo along Shifting Sands Trail until they reached Outpost Market located at the junction of Shifting Sands Lane and Ramon Road.

As Hidalgo remained in the driver's seat of his vehicle, Campbell went into the convenience store, which had been run for many years by Sgouromitis and his kin.

Although no one else was in the outlet, security surveillance video cameras inside were operating, capturing almost all of the ensuing encounter between the victim and defendant, according to the brief.

"As Campbell entered, the victim had the cash register open and seemed to be either counting or arranging money inside. The account described him carrying a semiautomatic pistol," the statement read.

The men exchanged words, but the video footage didn’t capture their conversation. However, the visuals showed Campbell raising the handgun, holding it with both hands, and pointing it at the target. Prosecutors stated that as he retreated towards the double doors, the defendant discharged a round, hitting Sgouromitis in the left hip.

When the proprietor attempted to flee from behind the counter, Campbell discharged another two rounds, striking the individual in the chest and lower back, as stated in the summary.

The gunfire clearly scared Hidalgo, causing him to speed off from the scene as Campbell left the store, the prosecution stated. Forced to run on foot through houses along Shifting Sands, Campbell inadvertently discharged his 9mm handgun into a backyard while escaping, with the homeowner present, according to court documents.

Sgouromitis' brother, who was taking refuge in a rear room of the shop when the gunfire erupted, started performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his sister until police officers from the Cathedral City Police Department intervened and took over, soon after which emergency medical technicians also arrived. Sadly, the injured person did not survive and was declared deceased at the location.

He was a cherished figure in the neighborhood, and the CCPD issued a statement shortly after his killing, mentioning he was a "father of four with solid community connections, who had no involvement in criminal activities and passed away at his long-time workplace."

Hidalgo's Acura was quickly recognized as the car that had been parked outside the convenience store, with the license plate verified through Flock police camera footage from Palm Springs. This led to Hidalgo being located and questioned within days of the incident.

The defendant provided details regarding what had transpired, insisting that he was only giving Campbell a ride to get some marijuana and had no foreknowledge of the planned robbery, according to the brief.

Campbell was located staying in a Beaumont motel, where detectives went to serve an arrest warrant, listening through the door as he conversed via speaker phone with his mother, telling her, "The driver was arrested, and all he has to do is give me up," according to the prosecution.

The officers instructed him to leave the room, after which the defendant was detained without any issues occurring.

Neither of them had previous felony convictions recorded in Riverside County.

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