Crime & Safety

3 Alleged Pot Growers Plead Not Guilty to Murder

Men arrested in connection with shooting death of Healdsburg man.

Three alleged illegal marijuana growers pleaded not guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court Thursday to murder.

Sidonio Cruz-Santos, 35, Augustin Zepeda-Onofre, 23, and Ramon Lopez-Velasco, 28, are charged with the

Lopez-Velasco is the brother-in-law of Gabino Lopez-Santiago, Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Carlos Basurto said.

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The three defendants Basurto said. In addition to murder, they have been charged with cultivating marijuana.

Gabino Lopez-Santiago was not involved in the grow operation but went to the garden on Saturday, Basurto said.

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An argument ensued and as Lopez-Santiago fled, he was shot at least once in his upper torso either late Saturday or early Sunday morning, Basurto said.

A passerby found Lopez-Santiago's body several miles away in the 5900 block of Mill Creek Road west of Healdsburg around 7 a.m. Sunday, the sheriff's office said.

Lopez-Velasco reported the murder of his brother-in-law to the Healdsburg Police Department around 2 a.m. Sunday, Basurto said. The complaint filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office charges him with being an accessory to a crime.

Cruz-Santos also is charged with intentional discharge of a firearm and using force or threat of force to dissuade a witness.

Zepeda-Onofre and Lopez-Velasco also are charged with a misdemeanor count of destroying or concealing evidence, according to the district attorney's office.

Cruz-Santos was living in Santa Rosa, Lopez-Velasco was living in Healdsburg and Zepeda-Onofre was living in Windsor.

The defendants will have a preliminary hearing date set Monday.

By Bay City News Service


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