Alejandro Garcia, 33, was shot dead in a “medical” marijuana garden in Covelo last June 29th.
A neighbor, John Henry Ross, 66, has been charged with murder.
Garcia had suffered multiple gunshot wounds when officers found him dead at the grow site, which was later evaluated by deputies and found to be compliant with applicable medical marijuana requirements.
Ross was arrested on suspicion of murder and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
Known as “Alex” to his girlfriend Linda Davis and her family, Garcia was visiting the Davis home when he was shot. The Ross and Davis properties are adjacent.
The evidence against Ross has not all been heard because of lengthy testimony and thorough cross-examination by Ukiah’s crack criminal defense team, Keith Faulder and his wife, Jona Saxby, but as of the end of the day Friday, senior citizen Ross was looking increasingly culpable.
I came in late and missed the beginning of the preliminary examination of Linda Davis, the first witness. But Linda Davis’s daughter, Darlene Davis, believed Ross shot Garcia, and young Darlene said she even ran after Ross, yelling at him until he turned and cranked off a round at her.
Deputy DA Shannon Cox asked Darlene Davis, “After the shooting you went through a hole in the fence and down to the creek that separates your property from his?”
“Yes.”
“But you were still on your side of the creek?”
“Yes.”
“Where was he?”
“Across.”
“Do you remember what he was wearing?”
“Something like jeans, maybe dark sweatpants or something, I don’t know for sure. I just saw a dark blur of blackness with a white scarf.”
“He was wearing a white scarf?”
“On his head, he had it wrapped around his head. I was screaming at him, like, what the eff – I was cussing and using bad words.”
“Did he respond in any way?”
“No. He just walked further.”
“Did you remain on your side of the creek?”
“It’s not really a creek anymore, just a big ol’ ditch?”
Ms. Davis, like many young people, is often an uptalk speaker. Declarative sentences end with a verbal question mark.
“Did you go across?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Is that the side John Ross’s property is on?”
“Yes.”
“Did you at any time lose sight of him?”
“For a little moment by his bus-thing I did?”
Deputy DA Cox had the witness describe the “bus-thing,” which seemed to be a bus converted into a motor home where Mr. Ross was living.
“So he went in back of the bus then reappeared in front?”
“Yes.”
“How long was he gone behind it?”
“Not long, maybe five seconds.”
“When he reappeared, was he still wearing the scarf?”
“Yes.”
Jona Saxby said, “I’m going to object, prosecution is leading the witness.”
Judge David Nelson sustained the objection and had the answer stricken from the record. However, the bell had been rung, as they say, and it would be hard for him to erase it from his memory.”
Cox rephrased: “Was he dressed differently?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
“He reached his hands up like this [over her head] and fired a shot in my direction.”
“Was it a long gun?”
“Yes”
“Could you see it?”
“Yes.”
“Before hearing the shot, did you know it was a gun?”
Saxby: “Your honor, I’m going to object. There’s been no testimony that she heard anything.”
Nelson said, “A shot implies she heard the report from the gun. Overruled.”
“So you knew he had a gun?”
“Yes I did.”
“What did you do?”
“I dropped in the bushes and went back in the direction of my house.”
“Did you see any sign of a bullet, like dirt flying up?”
“I saw like air and felt movement.”
“Had you been around guns much before?”
“Yes, a lot.”
“And had you been around John Ross?”
“Yes, my whole life.”
“So you ducked into the bushes and ran back to your mom’s?”
“Yes.”
“Was your mom still there?”
“Yes, and lots of other people were there, people close to my mom [she named several], and they were trying to get my mom to go to my grandpa’s house.”
“Objection, your honor, non-responsive.”
“Sustained.”
Young Darlene was a big girl, and looked older than she probably is. We see many very young people from Covelo on the witness stand in Ukiah. She seemed very nervous, and kept sitting on her hands to control them. And she was impatient about waiting for the questions.
“How was your mother behaving?”
“She was hysterical, screaming and crying, and running all over the place.”
“How long were you there?”
“Ten or 15 minutes, trying to calm my mom down, then I just left.”
“Had you drank any alcohol?”
“I had a drink and I just downed it and took off.”
“Which way did you go?”
“Towards town.”
“How far?”
“Past the Little Red School House and on down to Danny’s where all the fire trucks and ambulances were lined up, just sitting there, and I said why aren’t you guys up there helping – he’s still alive, you know – then I got in with a friend and went to Keith’s [Market].”
“Were you contacted by police?”
“Yes, at Dan’s store. I saw John Ross’s little ol’ black truck heading out of town on the Covelo Road, so I called the police and told ‘em he’s heading out right now.”
“Were you feeling the effects of the alcohol?”
“Yes, I was pretty buzzed by then.”
“Did Alex and John Ross know each other?”
“They knew each other.”
“Did Alex have problems with anyone?”
“No.”
“A couple of weeks after Alex was shot, did the deputies come back and ask about a .22?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew something about it?”
“Yes. My mom asked me to clean up back there where Alex had some of his things and I found it in a box the new weed-eater came in, wrapped in one of Alex’s shirts.”
“Had you seen it before?”
“Yes, I sold it to him.”
Kids sell lemonade for pocket money lots of places. In Covelo, they sell guns.
“Did you show the detectives where you found it?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do with it?”
“I gave it to Mom.”
“Did you call the cops when you found it?”
“No, Mom did.”
On cross-examination Ms. Saxby asked, “Were you home on June 29th, between eight and nine when John Ross arrived?”
“Yes.”
“How did you refer to him?”
“As my brother-in-law.”
“Yes, but what did you call him
“By his nickname, Ben Fu.”
“So he approaches… how?”
“He came up to my room with the sliding glass door and says ‘How ya doin’, and I said ‘Good morning, Ben.'”
“Which door is closest to the marijuana garden?”
“My mom’s door, the wooden one.”
“What was John Ross wearing?”
“I’m not sure, but he went in and talked to my mom, then came back 20 to 30 minutes later and gave my little sister a ride to town.”
“Did Alex spend the night, the night before?”
“No.”
“So he came back— when?”
“He’d just got home that day [June 29th].”
“Did you see him arrive?”
“Yes, with Ariana [Darlene’s younger sister]. He said he found her wandering around downtown. She told him she’d got into an argument with Ben Fu and—”
Ms. Saxby objected that this was all non-responsive hearsay and the statement about the argument between Ben Fu and Ariana was disallowed by Judge Nelson.
“What was Alex driving?”
“I don’t know what it was; he’d just bought it, but it had four doors and was gray, I think.”
Deputy DA Cox objected as to the relevance of the car and Nelson sustained the objection.
“So Alex arrives and Ariana is with him… What happened once he got there?”
“He went to my mom’s bedroom and talked to her about finding my little sister downtown.”
“Was this close to the time you left to go to softball practice?”
“Yeah.”
“And you were having a discussion with your mother about using her vehicle?”
“I’d already had it and was throwing a fit outside because she said no.”
“Practice was at 4:30?”
“Yes. I’d just gotten out of the shower and threw it on her [asking to use the car].”
“And she said no?”
“Yes.”
“Did you talk to her again before you left?”
“No.”
“Ariana was with you?”
“Yes.”
“And you took Refuge Road to Crawford past the Little Red School House?”
“Yes, it’s not far.”
“So the two of you were walking on Refuge Road?”
“Yes.”
“What was Ariana wearing?”
“Gosh, I don’t remember.”
“What were you wearing?”
“My uniform shorts and cleats, a jersey – but not the one with my number on it,”
“Did you have a mitt?”
“Yes.”
“A bat?”
“Yes.”
“How ‘bout a ball?”
“No.”
“So Ariana leaves?”
“Yes.”
“And she goes back towards the house, and you keep going?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get all the way?”
“No.”
“Because your mom had called?”
“Yes.”
“And you couldn’t understand her?”
“Yes, because she was upset and screaming.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, the phone was disconnected, so I called her right back and she said her man got shot so I ran back and got a ride with a neighbor, Mrs. Thrasher, who goes to take care of an older lady every day and was just coming back.”
“When did you first see your mom?”
“She was just pulling out as we got there.”
“Your mom was driving the blue Durango?”
“Yes, Ariana was with her and I jumped out to get in with her. She was just crying and I was holding her and we went straight back to the house. Then we all jumped out and Mom just stood there crying.”
Darlene then named all the people who were there. She described quite large a crowd, and said everyone as walking back and forth and going crazy.
“Did you enter the marijuana garden?”
“Yes.”
“Did you go back and see the body?”
“Yes.”
“He was laying face-up?”
“He was face-down.”
“What did you do?”
“I put my hand down to see if he was still …uh, if he was… [breaks down and covers her face with her hands]. Then Lavonne told me I didn’t need to be looking at that and took me out of there.”
There were more questions about Darlene’s pursuit of Ross across the dry creek-bed, Mill Creek, and the area surrounding it, which she described as a playground for the kids in the neighborhood with lots of trails and dirt roads on both sides.
Ms. Saxby then asked Darlene some questions about Mr. Ross’s bus having been burglarized and set on fire after he was arrested for the murder, but Darlene denied any involvement.
Deputy DA Cox showed Darlene a photograph of the body laying face-up and asked her if that was the way it was when she saw it. After she recovered from a burst of silent tears and a series of trembling spasms, she uncovered her face and said no, the body had been face-down.
Homicide Detective Andrew Porter took the stand after recess and testified as to his interview with a neighbor of Davis, Ronald Thrasher – husband of the Mrs. Thrasher who had driven Darlene home.
Mr. Thrasher told Detective Porter that he’d heard two loud, successive gunshots from the direction of Davis’s bus and saw a person walking through a field behind the barn – a green barn nearby
Det. Porter said Thrasher was looking through binoculars, and the person he saw was “possibly” John Ross. The distance was estimated as being about 450 yards, and that the distant figure appeared to be carrying a red bandanna as he entered the green barn. Shortly, the same person came back out and tied the red bandanna around his head.
A search of this barn by Detectives Porter and Luis Espinoza – late that night, using flashlights – turned up one .44 caliber spent shell casing. The next day, during a daylight search, they found a second spent .44 casing. They also found a shoulder holster for a large handgun like a .44 Magnum.
Mr. Thrasher had told the detective that he heard another shot, from what sounded like a smaller caliber firearm, some 20 to 30 minutes after the first two, which were fired in rapid succession. He heard this third shot shortly after his wife, Barbara Thrasher came home.
For the defense, Keith Faulder cross-examined Detective Porter, firmly establishing that Mr. Thrasher had not been certain the person he saw was John Ross, and further that Thrasher had said that he hears gunfire all the time in Covelo.
The prosecution then called Deputy Matthew Kendall who interviewed a Ms. Vilvine who was outside smoking when she heard the two shots in rapid succession and subsequently saw a person whom she thought was Ben Fu (John Ross) walking to the barn by Mill Creek with something white on his head. She told Deputy Kendall he appeared to be holding his side like he was injured or carrying something.
Kendall also talked to Matthew Britton who said he heard the two shots in rapid succession and later a single gunshot, all from his residence at the corner of Refuge Road and Rifle Range Road. He said the third shot sounded like a different caliber and came from a different location.
Dylan Holberg heard the first two shots and an “anguished cry.” He said he thought his dog had been shot and ran to check, but the dog was with his girlfriend and unharmed. He then heard a vehicle rapidly accelerate, screech to a stop, and a woman screamed that her husband had been killed.
John Ross’s son, John Junior, apparently a native of Senengal, was interviewed and said his father owned a .44 Mag with a shoulder holster. He also led the homicide detectives to a .223 Ruger Mini-14, an assault rifle modeled after the military’s now-defunct M-14 which was replaced during the Vietnam War with the M-16.
On cross-examination, Mr. Faulder made the point that John Ross, Jr. has a learning disability and speaks very little understandable English. (He might speak French.) He made it clear that the detectives had shown John Jr. pictures of some guns that elicited the responses.
At the end of the day Friday, Ms. Cox said she would call John Jr. to the stand on Tuesday when the hearing would be reconvened, and that she would need a Senegalese interpreter.
John Henry Ross has a great defense team, but the way the evidence is mounting it will be unlikely that he won’t be bound over for trial next week.
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