FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On today’s date at 7:00 A.M. El Dorado County Sheriff’s Detectives and other agencies served search warrants on three residences in Sacramento. The warrants were obtained for the purpose of locating additional evidence related to the homicide of Angela Vasquez.
No additional arrests were made at this time.
Agencies involved:
1. El Dorado County Sheriff’s Detectives and S.W.A.T. Team.
2. Sacramento County S.W.A.T. Team and Gang Task Force.
3. Sacramento Police S.W.A.T. Team and Gang Investigators.
Locations of residences searched:
1. 3719 45th Avenue, Sacramento
2. 4006 40th Avenue, Sacramento
3. 5405 Mack Rd. Sacramento
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CONTACT:
Lt. Kevin House
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By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff Writer - Last Updated 1:02 am PDT Monday, July 23, 2007
Family members have identified the victim of an early Saturday homicide in El Dorado Hills as Angela Vasquez, 17, of Sacramento. ... the youngest of four children ... recently graduated from William Daylor High School in the Elk Grove.
Margarita Escobar of Elk Grove told The Bee on Sunday that her sister, Vasquez, was the victim in that killing. She said the identity was confirmed in a meeting Saturday between family members and an El Dorado County Sheriff's detective. Sheriff's officials have not yet officially confirmed the victim's identity. But on Saturday they arrested Raul Reyes Jr., 18, of Sacramento as a suspect in the homicide.
"We feel devastated," said Escobar, 34. "I'm still in denial. It's hit us hard and very suddenly."
Vasquez was found at about 4 a.m. Saturday when deputies responded to a 911 call reporting a woman's death. Parked on the side of Valley View Parkway in El Dorado Hills, they found a Chevrolet Suburban with a dead woman on the floor between the front and rear seats, said Lt. Kevin House, Sheriff's spokesman.
She had been shot, probably inside the vehicle, House said.
At the scene, deputies found another car and two men, one of whom was Reyes, who authorities believe was driving the Suburban. The men were questioned, and Reyes was later arrested. House said Reyes placed the original 911 call. The other man was released.
Escobar said the family did not know the two men.
Authorities are still trying to piece the homicide together. They are not yet sure where the woman was when she was shot, but they do believe the vehicle had been moved from the location of the shooting, House said.
Vasquez was the youngest of four children who are widely separated in age. Escobar said her sister recently graduated from William Daylor High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District. She planned to attend Sacramento City College or join the Army, then pursue her dream to become a clothing designer.
The family is planning a fundraiser to cover funeral expenses.
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Monika
Diaz's Report
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Raul Reyes, Jr., 18, who is in custody for the fatal shooting of Angela Vasquez, 17, was sitting in a car when another 17-year-old girl was shot in the face, blinding her last February.
Sacramento police say Reyes and the victim were in a parked car outside of a party at Ollie Court when another car drove by. The car's occupants reportedly shouted gang slurs and fired shots, striking the girl with Reyes.
Reyes was considered a witness, not a suspect in that case. He was not charged.
Vasquez was discovered shot to death in an SUV in El Dorado Hills on Saturday, El Dorado County sheriff's officials said. She was found dead around 3:45 a.m. in a black Suburban parked on Valley View Parkway, on a hill above two apartment complexes east of Latrobe Road near Highway 50, El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin House said.
The Suburban had the rear window shot out, but House said it was unclear if the shot was fired from inside or outside the vehicle.
The driver of the Suburban, Reyes was booked on first-degree murder charges. House said Reyes called 911 to report "a dead female in the back of his car." House said Reyes has been validated by law enforcement as a gang member.
House said Vasquez and Reyes attended the same school and had been acquaintances for some time. Witnesses reported the pair had gone to a south Sacramento party together Friday night.
When deputies arrived on the scene of the shooting, they also found another car and a second man, a relative who Reyes apparently called before he called 911.
Reyes reportedly first told deputies someone shot at his SUV. After further questioning, he was taken into custody. His relative was questioned and released.
Detectives believe the actual shooting happened somewhere else, but have no idea why Reyes came to El Dorado Hills. "There's certain things you expect to see, debris surrounding the vehicle, more than likely," said House about the scene of a shooting, especially when a car window is shot out. "And we found none."
Officers searched the scene and nearby fields for the possible murder weapon, but found nothing.
Most difficult to explain is why Reyes, if he is the killer, would himself call law enforcement.
"I don't know all the answers to that," said House. "Sometimes things happen, they're in the middle of it and there's no real logical explanation," said House.
Vasquez's sister, Margarita Escobar, said her family had never met Reyes. Esobar described her sister as "very high spirited, very brave, a very good sister." She said her sister was planning on attending Sacramento City College and pursuing a career in clothing design. "We want to remember her as who she was, not as what happened to her," said Escobar.
While investigators have yet to determine the exact relationship between Vasquez and Reyes, Beth Hassett with WEAVE said the case smacks of teen dating violence.
"When I hear 17-year-old victim and that they've got a guy in custody I immediately think dating violence of some sort," said Hassett.
According to Hassett teen dating violence is on the rise. "One in every three teens find themselves in a violent relationship whether that's sexual, physical, emotional or verbal," she said.
Hassett blames television, music videos and motion pictures for portraying very violent relationships and giving teens a distorted view of love.
"Some red flags are extreme jealousy, any kind of controlling behavior, any kind of past abuse in other relationships," said Hassett.
WEAVE works with middle school students and high school students but Hassett said teens respond better to peer pressure. "It has to be youth talking to youth about the danger of domestic violence and sexual assault in relationships."
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RAUL REYES JR.: He is being held on suspicion of murder after the discovery of a
young woman's body.
Man held after woman's body is found in auto
18-year-old suspect had called 911 to report the shooting death, deputies say.
By Kim Minugh - Bee Staff Writer - Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, July 22, 2007
An 18-year-old Sacramento man was arrested Saturday in connection with the death of a young woman found shot in the back seat of a sport-utility vehicle in El Dorado Hills early that morning.
The woman has not yet been identified, but she appeared to be about 17 or 18 years old, said Lt. Kevin House, spokesman for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.
Raul Reyes Jr. -- who called 911 to report the woman's death -- was being held at the county jail on suspicion of murder in connection with the homicide, House said.
About 4 a.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call reporting the woman's death. Parked on the side of Valley View Parkway, they found a Chevrolet Suburban with the dead woman lying on the floor between the front and rear seats, House said.
She had been shot at least once, probably while inside the vehicle, House said.
At the scene, deputies also found another car and two men -- one of whom was Reyes, who authorities believe was driving the Suburban. The men were detained for questioning, and Reyes' arrest followed that afternoon, House said. The other man was released.
Their relationship to the woman is not known, House said.
Authorities are not yet sure where the woman was when she was shot, but they do believe the vehicle had been moved from the location of the shooting, House said.
