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Jury deadlocked on 1994 teen murder
| Thursday, Apr 10 2008 10:44 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Apr 10 2008 5:01 PM
The family of Shilo Rodriguez has been waiting a long time for some closure in the teen’s murder.
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Shilo Rodriguez
The wall of Johnnie Rodriguez's home in southeast Bakersfield included this photo of his sons, taken in 1982. At right is Shilo and at left is Joshua, who died of medical causes last year. In background is surviving son, Christopher.
It looks like they’ll have to wait a little longer.
On Thursday, more than 13 years after Shilo was stabbed to death, his body abandoned at Union Cemetery, a jury told Judge Clarence Westra Jr. they could not reach a verdict in the first-degree murder trial of Richard Ray Feliz, Shilo’s accused killer.
Thursday morning, the vote was 8-4, with no indication which way jurors were leaning. They went back to the jury room and spent most of the day deliberating. By late Thursday afternoon they were ready to hang it up, telling the court the count had become even more muddled, with a vote of 7-3 with two jurors now apparently undecided.
Westra declared a mistrial. Attorneys will return to court on April 17 to set a new trial date.
Shilo was only 15 in November 1994 when his lifeless body was discovered among the grass and gravestones at the east Bakersfield cemetery.
Feliz, now 31, was 18 when he was first arrested in connection with Shilo’s death. At the time, the Kern County District Attorney’s office determined there was insufficient evidence to try Feliz and he was released.
Years passed. The case was all but forgotten.
Then in 2006, at the behest of family members, Bakersfield police Detective Herman Caldas began looking into the cold case.
According to Californian archives, the detective reviewed physical evidence from the homicide and found material that could be used for DNA testing, including clothing and tennis shoes.
The case was resubmitted to the DA’s office and a warrant for Feliz’s arrest was issued. As an inmate serving a term on unrelated charges at Pleasant Valley State Prison, he wasn’t hard to find.
Retired BPD homicide detective Bob Stratton — now a church administrator — helped investigate the killing all those years ago. Stratton was one of many who returned to court to testify in the 13-year-old case.
He recalled the cemetery scene where Shilo’s body was found. He followed drops of blood along with patterned tennis shoe tracks similar to those worn by Feliz.
And an old girlfriend of the defendant, Darlin Vasquez, testified that Feliz made incriminating statements to her about the killing.
But defense attorney Ronald Carter reminded jurors that back in 1994, Vasquez said nothing of the sort. If she was being loyal to her then-boyfriend by withholding evidence, why didn’t she come forward 10 years ago or five years ago? Carter asked.
While Shilo’s DNA was found on the defendant’s shoes, Carter argued that the two were friends. They hung out together for years, so Shilo’s DNA could have been transferred to Feliz’s shoes as they played basketball together or engaged in other activities.
After the jury was excused, Carter said it was clear the jury worked extremely hard, but was simply unable to agree on a verdict.
“They said it was getting muddier and muddier as they continued their deliberations,” Carter said. “So that’s where we are. We’ll go back and get another court date on the 17th.”