Woman’s Hearing Delayed in Lake Forest Killing

Handcuffed and walking slowly, an 81-year-old woman was ushered into a Newport Beach courtroom Tuesday to face charges of murdering her great-grandson’s father.

Jeane E. Allen talked in a whisper, and only then to agree to have the hearing postponed until Monday. She did not enter a plea.

In an interview Monday, Allen said she shot and killed Alex L. Reyes as he stood on the front porch of her Lake Forest home fixing a baby stroller. She said she suspected he was molesting her great-grandson.

Allen, who was being held at Orange County Jail without bail, is charged with murder, use of a gun during a crime and an enhancement of lying in wait. The charges call for penalties ranging from life in prison without parole to death.

The district attorney’s office has not determined whether to seek the death penalty.

The shooting occurred Saturday morning while Reyes, 26, of Brea, was meeting his son during a court-monitored visit. Reyes and Allen’s granddaughter, Leslie Bieg, 24, were in divorce proceedings and battling over custody of their 19-month-old son.

While Reyes’ parents waited nearby in a car, Allen said she walked into her house, grabbed a gun and fired two shots -- striking Reyes in the head and thigh.

Allen told The Times during a jailhouse interview that she shot Reyes after he asked for an apology letter from her for accusing him of molesting the child.

“In God’s eyes, I don’t feel guilty because it was the only thing I could do to save his life,” she said Monday.

She said she then called 911 and told the dispatch operator “I just shot a pedophile.”

Reyes, who wanted to be a police officer, had long denied the molestation accusation and had even taken a lie detector test, his divorce attorney said.

A longtime acquaintance, Jessie Standifer, said Reyes had told him the accusation was groundless and vowed to fight the claim and win custody rights. “At times,” Standifer said, “he felt helpless within the system, really upset, really frustrated.”

Speaking outside court Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Murray described the shooting as a “coldblooded, calculated, methodical” murder.

“What she did was heinous, cruel and not only cruel to the victim but to do it when he’s going to spend time with his son, and his parents were waiting in the car, that’s unbelievably callous,” Murray said.

Age is not a factor for leniency, he said, and “molestation is not an excuse to murder someone.” Allen is the oldest inmate at the county jail.

Defense attorney John Barnett said Allen was only trying to protect her great-grandson.

“Is there anything you would not do to protect an infant? There’s a moral responsibility to protect our children,” Barnett said. “It is part of the natural order that parents and grandparents protect their young. It’s one of the forces of evolution, and when there’s a belief that someone is trying to harm the young, then the response is appropriate, natural and compelled by nature.”

Allen said she believed that Reyes was a pedophile, but there is no concrete evidence -- only the divorce papers -- to support that. Reyes was never charged, and neither Allen nor his wife reported the matter to police.

Allen and her granddaughter made allegations in divorce proceedings that they had witnessed Reyes molesting the boy and calling him inappropriate sexual names. Bieg’s divorce attorney could not be reached for comment.

But Reyes’ attorney, Larry Fancher, said the allegations were fabricated.

In his attempt to obtain custody of his child, Reyes agreed to be examined by mental health experts and underwent two polygraph tests. One result was inconclusive; the other was in his favor, Fancher said.

Still, the allegations did prompt a judge to order that the father’s visits be limited from 10 a.m. to noon on Fridays and Saturdays and be monitored.

The matter was also forwarded to the county’s Child Abuse Registry. It was unclear what happened from there, and county social service officials did not comment.

State law requires professionals such as teachers, doctors and public assistance workers to report child abuse allegations.

The county’s Child Abuse Registry receives more than 27,000 reports each year for allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, caregiver incapacity, neglect, abandonment and exploitation of children.

Scott Altman, professor of law and associate dean at USC, said people often make exaggerated claims while going through a divorce. But making false sexual allegations is uncommon, he said.

“If you make that claim and it is found false, it will backfire,” Altman said. “The judge will think you are malicious and more likely to rule against you. You are more likely to see allegations of criminal behavior.”

Fancher said he thought it was telling that neither Allen nor Bieg reported their accusations to police.

Times staff writer Lynn Doan contributed to this report.