Kumra Murder: Who Is Raven Dixon?

Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police corporal Erin Lunsford maintains that Alameda resident Raven Dixon, 22, knew Deangelo Austin.

He also says that Austin, 21, is a member of Oakland's notorious criminal street gang The Money Team, known for committing home invasions and targeting Asian and East Indian families by breaking into their homes, tying people up and ransacking their properties.

That's exactly what Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Smith says happened in the wee hours of Nov. 30 at the Withey Road Monte Sereno mansion of former Mountain Winery owner Raveesh "Ravi" Kumra.

Austin, accompanied by Lukis D. Anderson, 26, and Javier R. Garcia, 21, gagged and blindfolded Kumra, 66, using packaging tape, tying his hands and feet behind his back, dragging him to the kitchen, Lunsford says.

His wife, Harinder Kumra, called 911 after being severely beaten in her bedroom, being hit in the mouth with a hard cold object and also being bound with tape. "Be quiet if you want to live," the suspects told her as they dragged her to the kitchen where her husband's body lay, according to Lunsford.

The men, who are being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail, are each facing six felony counts of murder, assault, criminal threats, false imprisonment, robbery and residential burglary. Two gang enhancement charges have been added to Garcia and Austin.

The Santa Clara County Crime Lab found a DNA hit on one of the pieces of tape recovered near Kumra's body that matched Austin's DNA, Lunsford added.

Dixon's mother, Sandra Mitchell, has told Los Gatos Patch her daughter doesn't know Austin, Garcia or Anderson. She also described her as being "the best daughter in the world," and "my princess."

Mitchell, Dixon's pastor Derrick Mann, and attorneys John Ambrosio and Denise Zingale all deny she had any involvement in the home invasion robbery that eventually caused Kumra's death by asphyxiation.

Dixon has been charged

She was

Ambrosio said any relationship Dixon had with Kumra, professional or personal, was not damaging.

Lunsford, however, says Dixon is a known prostitute who had been at Kumra's home several times along with two other alleged prostitutes—Katrina Fritz and Ashley Davis. The three women also spent time with Kumra at Los Gatos hotels, according to police.

Dixon and Ashley Davis are childhood friends, Lunsford said, and Davis' brother, Roland Davis, is a member of the Money Team gang. Dixon also knew Davis, police said.

A forensic examination of Kumra's laptop revealed a backed-up copy of Dixon's cell phone from April 2012. Inside those files were photos of the victim's home, property, grounds, gates and fences, police said. Kumra's contact list also included Dixon with several phone numbers, email addresses and a home address for her, Lunsford said.

A review of the victim's Google Voice Account showed that Dixon tried contacting Kumra almost every month from June until November of 2012. On Nov. 14, she contacted the victim for the last time saying she wanted to party with him. He declined, police said. 

Denies Being a Prostitute

When Dixon was interviewed by police in December she denied being a prostitute, knowing anything about Los Gatos or even being in Los Gatos or Monte Sereno for any length of time, police said.

She also denied knowing anyone in Los Gatos or Monte Sereno and denied knowing Kumra, even after police gave her his name.

Police also showed her photos of her cell phone and she denied any knowledge of the photos. She refused, according to police, to give them access to her cell phone stating it was new to her and she did not know the pass code.

However, she admitted knowing Fritz and Ashley and Roland Davis.

" ... It is my opinion that this homicide was carried out in association with, for the benefit and/or at the direction of the Money Team," Lunsford wrote in the statements of facts about the case.

A website that had been set up to have her friends and family contribute to her defense, www.freeravendixon.org, is no longer live.

The investigation into Kumra's home robbery-invasion is ongoing, police and prosecutors say, with perhaps more arrests coming and additional charges being filed against Dixon.

—For comprehensive coverage of the Raveesh 'Ravi' Kumra murder case, please see our topic page by clicking here.