Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Healdsburg Homicide Victim Was Shot Twice

Gabino Lopez Santiago was shot in the chest and the head.

Note: This article was updated Sunday night and again on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011.

Autopsy results on Gabino Lopez Santiago show he was shot twice as he was trying to flee a marijuana growing site west of Healdsburg, according to an article in the Press Democrat.

The article offers several new details on Santiago's shooting death over the weekend. To read the article, click here.

Find out what's happening in Healdsburgfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Three suspects will be arraigned Tuesday in connection with Santiago's death.

An arraignment is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Sonoma County Superior Court, according to staff at Sonoma County Jail, where the three men are in custody on multiple charges.

Find out what's happening in Healdsburgfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Santiago, 46, was shot near a marijuana grow spot along Chemise Road in Healdsburg around 2 a.m. Sunday. His body was found five hours later dumped on the side of the road in the 5900 block of Mill Creek Road west of Healdsburg.

Santiago is from Mexico and had been living in Healdsburg.

According to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office,  a marijuana grow was near the Chemise Road shooting location that "was being tended to by the suspects in this case," the sheriff's office said. "However, it is still undetermined if the shooting was directly related to the marijuana grow."

Arrested were:

--Sidonio Santos Cruz, 35, and Agustin Zepeda-Onofre, 23, who were both located near the crime scene on Chemise Road. Both men, whom police identified as suspects, were arrested and charged with murder, conspiracy, accessory to a crime, cultivation of marijuana and destroying or concealing evidence.

--Ramon Velasco Lopez, 28, was located in Healdsburg and booked into the Sonoma County Jail on the same charges. 

All suspects are originally from Mexico.  Cruz was living in Santa Rosa, Zepeda-Onofre in Windsor and Velasco in Healdsburg.

The initial report came in at around 2 a.m. Sunday, when a person walked in to the station on Center Street, according to Healdsburg Sgt. Matt Jenkins. Jenkins said the person, whom he declined to identify, did not speak English and police secured a translator.

From the translation, it was determined that the person should be transferred via telephone to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, which secured its own translator, Jenkins said.

According to the Press Democrat, the person was Santiago's brother-in-law, Ramon Velasco Lopez, 28, of Healdsburg.

After listening to Velasco Lopez, detectives from the Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigations Unit took over the investigation.

Five hours later, at about 7 a.m., detectives received a  9-1-1 call with information about the location of Santiago's body. According to the Press Democrat, the 9-1-1 call was from a newspaper delivery person who was driving along Mill Creek Road.

Acting on the tip, detectives found the body on the side of the 5900 block of Mill Creek Road, according to the sheriff's office.

Sheriff's detectives are continuing to investigate. Anyone with information is urged to contact Sgt. Carlos Basurto from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Investigations Unit at 707-565-2185.

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