Lebec murder suspects Alex Richard Valdez, 30, and Joshua Aaron Robertson, 29, returned to court Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the murder of Kimberly Harvill and the kidnapping of her three young children in 2016.

Robertson and Valdez’s story begins on Aug. 12, 2016 in a Fresno hotel room, where a family affair reportedly turned into a shootout, according to officials.

Both Harvill, 26, and her stepsister, Brittney Sue Humphrey, 24 — who is also Robertson’s wife — were also believed to be at the scene of the shooting.

Harvill was believed to have witnessed the shooting, resulting in her murder and body being discovered in Lebec, a remote area north of Gorman, on Aug. 14.

After Harvill’s body was found, the investigation turned its attention to Humphrey and Robertson — who they believed Harvill was living with at the time.

The search for Humphrey and Robertson led investigators to find Harvill’s children in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the suspects in Colorado a day later.

Valdez, although believed not to be the triggerman in the shooting, was arrested in March 2017 on suspicion of connection to the case, according to Detective Scott Matlock of the county’s Homicide Bureau.

“Everyone in this case was involved in that Fresno shooting, and Harvill was the witness,” said Detective Scott Matlock of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.

Robertson and Valdez have been charged with murdering Harvill, and are also facing a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, making them eligible for the death penalty, according to District Attorney’s Office officials.

Robertson also was charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, two counts of an unrelated arson and one count of possession of flammable material.

In 2017, Humphrey was sentenced to 13 years in state prison for kidnapping Harvill’s three children, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.

She pleaded no contest to three counts of kidnapping of Harvill’s children, whose ages were 5, 3 and 2 when the crime occurred.

Both Robertson and Valdez are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 2 for another pretrial hearing.

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