Crime & Safety
U.S. Marshals Arrest Salinas Homicide Suspect In San Francisco
BREAKING: Police say the 51-year-old convicted sex offender was the last person seen with Shantel Llamas, whose body was found at a Motel 6.
SALINAS, CA — A suspect in an October homicide in Salinas was arrested at Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Thursday by U.S. Marshals, according to the Salinas Police Department. Marshals arrested Richard Eugene Simmons, 51, on suspicion of homicide and an outstanding $1 million warrant for failing to register as a
sex offender.
The victim, 30-year-old Shantel Evelia Llamas, was found dead in a hotel room in a Motel 6 on Kern Street in Salinas around 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12, police said. Relatives had requested a welfare check on her after multiple attempts to get in touch with her failed.
Her death was ruled suspicious upon discovery of her body, police said. The Monterey County coroner's office on Wednesday ruled her death a homicide via asphyxiation, according to police.
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Police said not long after Llamas body was discovered, Salinas police detectives determined Simmons was the last person to be seen with her.
After Simmons wasn't found locally, police reached out to the U.S. Marshals for help locating him.
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Simmons was spotted in the South Bay on Thursday and U.S. Marshals began focusing on monitoring the area after the sighting, police said. He was later found at Ocean Beach and taken into custody without incident, police said.
He has booked into the Monterey County Jail on a total of $2,010,000 bail for both charges.
By Bay City News Service
Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone
