Murder suspect, Jose Sevilla Ruiz, 66 of San Miguel is shown shortly after being apprehended in Wasco and charged in the shooting death of Reyna Espinosa on Sept. 28. Photo courtesy SLO County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff’s Investigators arrested a San Miguel man accused of murdering a domestic partner and then fleeing the county before being apprehended in Wasco.
According to Sheriff’s Spokesman, Tony Cipolla, deputies were sent to a home in the 500 block of River Rd., in San Miguel at about 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, for a report of shots fired.
When they arrived, they discovered a 60-year-old woman had been shot multiple times. Paramedics and deputies tried to save her, but she died at the scene.
“Detectives responded to the scene,” Cipolla said, “and began an immediate investigation. The suspect, identified as 66-year-old Jose Sevilla Ruiz of San Miguel, had fled the location before Deputies arrived. Ruiz was believed to be driving a gold, Ford F-150 pickup truck.”
Cipolla said the investigation turned up leads and witnesses and concluded the murder was the result of “a domestic disturbance and verbal argument between Ruiz and the victim.”
They also determined that Ruiz was fleeing eastbound out of SLO County.
At about 8:45 a.m. Sept. 29, Cipolla said, Ruiz was arrested in Wasco, Calif., which is in Kern County about 25 miles north of Bakersfield, by the Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Unit, with help from the Wasco Police Department and the Highway Patrol.
Cipolla said investigators believe the murder was an isolated incident and the general public is not in danger. The victim was later identified as Reyna Espinosa, 60 of San Miguel.
Questions have arisen as to why the department didn’t immediately issue a public statement while Ruiz was at large and a potential danger?
“The Sheriff’s Office did not issue an initial public statement while investigators and law enforcement personnel were actively working to locate the outstanding murder suspect,” Cipolla said. “Releasing information prematurely could have compromised investigative strategies, alerted the suspect to law enforcement efforts, or otherwise interfered with the safe and successful apprehension of the suspect.”
The case is still being investigated, and the Sheriff’s Department is asking anyone with information regarding the incident to contact the Detective Division at 805-781-4500.
