A man suspected of killing his roommate on Aug. 7. in Watsonville was back in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing after he was found mentally fit to stand trial.
Hector Rocha, 44, allegedly shot 42-year-old Victor Alamillo during a heated verbal dispute in the driveway of their home on the 100 block of West Beach Street.
In court, Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorneys Bryan Pearson and Alex Beyers spelled out, step by step, the evening of the shooting while criminal defense attorney, Tawnya Hughes, joined Rocha who—clad in orange jail-issue garb—at the defense table.
Rocha was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial and was sent to the Department of State Hospitals in 2023, where he was given medication and treatment.
On Aug. 7 2023, Rocha, Alamillo and a third roommate, Nancy Romero were in the driveway to their West Beach Street home just before 9pm, according to Watsonville Police officer David Gonzalez, the first witness on the stand Tuesday. Pearson then asked Gonzalez to spell out the sequence of events, based on an interview with Romero, Alamillo’s girlfriend, where Alamamillo and Rocha were arguing. Rocha, at one point, went to his truck and pulled out a semi-automatic rifle, walked over and shot Victor Alamillo once in the back. After yelling out loud several profanity-laced outbursts, Rocha then ordered Romero to lay on the ground as he pointed the rifle at her. But she refused, and Rocha got into his rusty mint-green 1967 Chevrolet pickup and drove west on West Beach Street toward Highway 1.
Gonzalez said that when he arrived at the scene he found Alamillo lying face down in the driveway with what appeared to be a bullet wound to his upper back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
One day after the shooting, someone called 911 to report they saw Rocha’s single-cab pickup parked in an agricultural field off McGowan Road south of the Pajaro River.
As police from multiple agencies, including an armored BearCat truck, swarmed the area, Rocha refused to come out of the truck for more than four hours as crisis negotiators tried to convince him to surrender. Rocha eventually gave himself up and his rifle was found in the truck.
In addition to felony murder charges, Rocha also faces charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He has also been charged with possessing a semi-automatic weapon, an assault rifle and ammunition. He also faces an enhancement for a previous serious felony. He has been held at Santa Cruz County Jail without bail, jail records show.
If convicted, his sentence could be lengthened by enhancements for having a serious felony on his record and for using a gun in the commission of a crime, jail records showed.
In 2022, Rocha was also behind another four-hour-plus standoff with police from various agencies after witnesses said they saw him waving a gun and hollering outside a home on Kilburn Street.
He was arrested later that day and taken into custody on suspicion of attempted arson because he allegedly tried to set a vehicle on fire on Kilburn Street. He was also charged with resisting arrest. Police later learned the gun Rocha had been waving around was a replica.
Outside court at the close of the day, Beyers said, “Everything we alleged, the judge found as probable cause to go ahead and certify it for a trial. So there will be an arraignment now on May 7.”
