Three charged in killing of 90-year-old woman

Three suspected burglars were charged in the killing of a 90-year-old San Bernardino woman seven years ago, authorities said.

Josephine Kelley was tied up, beaten and smothered in September 2005 after the home-invasion robbery of her home.

“I can guarantee that this office will fight to see that justice is carried out for our victim and her family,’’ San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said in a statement Wednesday.

Charged in the killing were Michael Mitchell Jr., 28, and Keisha Renee Smith, 29, both of San Bernardino; and Sherry Ann Beck, 31, of Phelan.

All three were among the suspects being investigated immediately after the killing, but detectives did not have enough evidence to file charges. New information led to the arrests, police said.

The arrest comes less than two weeks after San Bernardino police arrested another suspect in a similar slaying of Mary Beth Blaskey, 76, who was killed in November while home alone. Jerome Anthony Rogers, a 58-year-old registered sex offender and neighborhood handyman, was charged with murder in that case.

Lt. Paul Williams said there does not appear to be any connection between the two cases.

Police continue to investigate another killing involving an elderly woman who was slain during a home- invasion robbery. Wanda Paulin, 86, was killed in December 2010.

All three women lived in a quiet, northern section of San Bernardino.

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