Santa Maria enjoys a relatively low homicide rate compared with the rest of the county.
Last year, the entire county of Santa Barbara had 11 homicides, according to statistics from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCRs). Santa Maria experienced a total of three homicides last year, according to UCRs, and their first homicide didn’t occur until August.
But now, it’s August 2015 and homicides total six, according to Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin.
The latest person in Santa Maria to die at the hands of another is 17-year-old Oscar Daniel Joaquin, who was shot and killed on July 28, according to police. The shooting occurred during the evening at the corner of Western Avenue and Barrett Street where police found Joaquin suffering from several gunshot wounds.
So far, the police do not have a suspect, but they think Joaquin’s shooting is gang related.
Another unsolved homicide is the man whom police found shot to death in the 400 block of West Williams Street on May 16.
In the four other homicides, a suspect was caught or they were domestic violence-related incidents—including the death of 41-year-old Teresa Meza who police say was killed on June 5 by her husband, 50-year-old Jesus Quezada, who was shot and killed by police.
Even with the uptick in homicides, Martin said no one should be that worried for public safety. He said on average for the last 10 years, Santa Maria has around four homicides per year.
“It’s always a concern,” Martin said. “But keep in mind that two of them were domestic and another involved a lover’s triangle.”
But there may be a seventh homicide. The death of a 64-year-old woman in Santa Maria, who was a victim of an alleged violent sexual assault just days earlier on Aug. 1, is now being looked at as a homicide, according to Martin.
In this case, Santa Maria police arrested Victor Aureliano Martinez on suspicion of attempted murder, sexual assault, and residential burglary.
This article appears in Aug 6-13, 2015.