Bail Set for Parole Agent in Shooting

Bail was set at $250,000 on Sunday for James F. Valante, the state parole agent from Stanton who allegedly shot his mother Friday night, an Orange County Jail spokeswoman said.

Valante, 42, was being held at the jail on suspicion of attempted murder. Arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

Valante’s mother, Virginia Sprehe, 64, was in fair condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she is recovering from surgery for a bullet wound in the back.

And Valante’s son, Matthew, 3, who was with Valante when he surrendered to sheriff’s deputies Saturday, was being cared for by his maternal grandmother.

According to Sheriff’s Department officials, someone called 911 on Friday evening to report that he had just shot his mother. The man repeated the statement, then hung up.

Responding deputies found Sprehe on the floor of Valante’s home, shot in the back, but Valante was nowhere to be seen. They looked for him Friday night and early Saturday, only to have him and his son walk into their home shortly after noon on Saturday.

Waited for Surrender

For an hour, sheriff’s deputies crouched behind bushes and patio walls, sometimes with guns drawn, as they waited for Valante to give up. Meanwhile, Lt. William Francis talked to Valante, who surrendered at 1:30 p.m.

By Sunday, life was back to normal at the Bell Cove townhouse complex where Valante, Sprehe and Matthew live.

But neighbors remain puzzled by the shooting. Valerie Zahn, whose young daughter regularly played with Matthew, said that Valante’s world had centered on his son lately. He had been on medical disability since April, she said.

But recently Valante was upset because his ex-wife, Karen, had a serious boyfriend, Zahn said.

Zahn said she knew he had a gun that he sometimes carried in his pocket, but she thought he kept it as protection in his parole agent job. She said she never thought he would use the gun on a relative. “Something triggered him off.”