WATSONVILLE—Two 18-year-olds who Watsonville police believe fatally shot another 18-year-old on April 2 were arrested Tuesday morning on murder charges.
Erick DeHaro and Matthew Madriz were charged with first-degree murder. They were booked into Santa Cruz County Jail without bail.
According to Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, officers served a search warrant at a home on the 700 block of Lincoln Street, where DeHaro attempted to flee. He was arrested after a short chase.
Madriz was arrested at his home on the 10000 block of Dougherty Avenue in Morgan Hill.
DeHaro and Madriz are suspected of confronting and fatally shooting Feliciano Martinez Parea in the courtyard of an apartment complex on the 100 block of Riverside Drive.
The homicide is the first of the year in Santa Cruz County. Pulido said that WPD could not share more information about the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
The arrests came after more than 200 people gathered at the Watsonville City Plaza on Sunday to call for an end to the violence and celebrate what would have been Martinez Parea’s 19th birthday.
Pulido said police believe DeHaro and Madriz followed Martinez Perea through the courtyard of the apartment complex and confronted him before a brief fight broke out and the suspected gunmen opened fire. In video surveillance footage released by WPD, one of the suspected shooters is seen walking toward Martinez Perea, who is walking backward with his hands up. The other suspected shooter, meanwhile, is seen trying to get between Martinez Perea and the first suspect before the video cuts out.
Pulido said that several law enforcement agencies assisted WPD in the investigation. That included the sheriff’s offices of Santa Cruz County and Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz Police Department, Santa Cruz County’s Anti-Crime Team and Santa Cruz Auto Theft Reduction Enforcement Team, as well as police from San Jose and Campbell.
“We are very happy the police have made these arrests, it’s a relief,” said Martinez Perea’s godmother, Teorila Alvarado. “We want them to be in prison for life, otherwise they will be out on the streets and be able to do this again. We keep praying. The parents of their family should teach their kids to not behave like this.”
Alvarado said that her family is deeply thankful for those that came forward with funds to help defray funeral costs. The family had hoped to send Martinez Perea’s body back to his hometown of San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, Mexico—a small town of about 12,000 people far removed from the state capital.
At Tuesday evening’s Watsonville City Council meeting, Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora said that his detectives worked around the clock since the April 2 shooting to arrest DeHaro and Madriz.
“While I’m very proud of the work that they’ve done, my heart also goes out to the family of Feliciano Martinez Parea and my heart also goes out to the parents of the individuals who were arrested in connection to this homicide,” Zamora said. “I would ask that if you have children or if you could imagine someone that you deeply care for, if you get a knock on the door from a police officer that says ‘this individual that you deeply care for has just been arrested for murder.’ How do you deal with that? How do you deal with being told that your family member was just killed?”
Zamora was giving a presentation to the council about the formation of a critical incident response team in which WPD will work with the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Pájaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, Monarch Services, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the County Office of Education to address the residual trauma that often results from violent incidents.
The program is funded by a $481,327 Behavioral Health Justice Intervention Services grant.
“When trauma is not treated properly it has the potential to manifest behaviors such as depression, anxiety, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and, unfortunately, many times, criminal behavior,” Zamora said. “I’ve seen this happen throughout my years as a police officer and I’ve experienced it in my own family.”
Several on the city council also reflected on the shooting. In an emotional statement, councilwoman Vanessa Quiroz-Carter—the representative for the area of the city in which the shooting took place—gave thanks to WPD, other city staff and the Community Action Board for their swift actions over the past week.
“I spent some time with the family and it was very difficult to see that young life taken,” she said. “I don’t want to see more lives taken from senseless acts of violence. We need to invest in ways for our young people to have outlets and have opportunity so that this never happens again.”
