A Loleta teen accused of shooting three people to death on Feb. 10 pleaded not guilty today to three counts of murder, along with special allegations that could mean life in prison without possibility of parole.
Defense attorney Andrea Sullivan entered the pleas this afternoon on behalf of 19-year-old Mauricio Sanchez-Johnson, who was booked into Humboldt County Correctional Facility on Sunday after being arrested and held for three months in Utah. He was returned to Humboldt County after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an extradition warrant earlier this month.
Sanchez-Johnson appeared in court today via video from the jail. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and a face mask. He answered all questions with “Yeah.”
Judge Larry Killoran informed Sanchez-Johnson that the first count of murder was for Nikki Dion Metcalf, the second for Margarett Lee Moon and the third for “Jane Doe,” who was Margarett Moon’s 16-year-old daughter Shelly Moon.
Metcalf and Margarett Moon, who were engaged to married, were both 40.
In addition, Sanchez-Johnson is charged with personal and intentional discharge of a firearm, the so-called “Use a Gun and You’re Done” law that can add 25 years to life to any prison sentence. Finally, he is charged with the special circumstance of committing multiple murders. A conviction could mean life without possibility of parole.
Killoran ordered that Sanchez-Johnson be held without bail, though he gave Sullivan permission to file a motion requesting bail at some point.
Sanchez-Johnson’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 1. Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees, the attorney prosecuting the case, said he was not comfortable at this time estimating the length of that hearing.
“It could be a morning; it could be a few days,” Rees said.
The hearing was scheduled for one full day after Sullivan made that request.
Coincidentally, Sullivan and Rees will likely be in trial together on another case on July 1. They agreed to request a day off in that trial if Sanchez-Johnson’s preliminary hearing proceeds that day.
Sanchez-Johnson allegedly shot all three victims in their home on the Bear River Rancheria. He then headed east and was arrested the following day while driving through Utah.
ABOVE: HSU student Samantha Hayman receives a squirt of hand sanitizer before graduating; BELOW: HSU President Tom Jackson addresses the sparser-than-usual crowd | Photos: Ray DeSoto
It wasn’t the way they envisioned it, but they made it.
Over the weekend, Humboldt State University honored its class of 2021 at ceremonies that looked and felt starkly different than any previous year in the school’s history. With stringent COVID precautions in place, several hundred students, faculty and family members masked up and socially distanced themselves inside HSU’s Redwood Bowl to celebrate academic accomplishments achieved even despite the unprecedented times.
There were several separate graduation events held. Friend of the LoCO Ray DeSoto was in attendance for for Saturday’s College of Natural Resources and Sciences-designated proceedings and was kind enough to share a few images of the historic event.
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
California will keep its current indoor masking guidance without making any changes until June 15, the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) agency announced today.
CHHS Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced the continuation of the existing guidance in a virtual news conference this morning. Dr. Ghaly said California reviewed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance and decided to stay with June 15 as the date those who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear a mask.
June 15 marks the day Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Blueprint for a Safer Economy restrictions would be lifted.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On May 16, 2021, at about 12:24 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on the 4100 block of Williams Street, in the county’s jurisdiction of Eureka, for the report of a domestic disturbance.
Deputies arrived on scene and contacted a 29-year-old female victim. The victim told deputies that she and her roommate, 25-year-old Travis William Priestley, had gotten into an argument inside the residence. At some point during the argument, Priestley physically assaulted the victim. The victim sustained moderate injuries as a result of the assault and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Priestley was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of battery with serious bodily injury (PC 243(d)).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
Triple-murder
suspect Mauricio Sanchez-Johnson has been booked into Humboldt County
Correctional Facility after spending three months fighting
extradition from Utah.
Sanchez-Johnson.
According to jail records, Sanchez-Johnson was booked at shortly before 6 p.m.
Sunday. He is on the jail’s “must go” list for arraignment on
Wednesday.
Sanchez-Johnson,
who turned 19 on March 1, is charged with murdering three people Feb.
10 in a home on the Bear River Rancheria. He allegedly shot Margarett
Lee Moon and Nikki Dion Metcalf, both 40, before turning the gun on
Moon’s 16-year-old daughter Shelly Moon. All three were shot in the
head.
The
following day Sanchez-Johnson, accompanied by his mother’s
boyfriend, was arrested while driving east on Highway 80 in Tooele
County, Utah.
Sanchez-Johnson
faces not only murder and weapons charges but the special allegation
of having multiple victims, a charge that makes this a capital case.
District
Attorney Maggie Fleming has said she will not seek the death penalty.
But if convicted of the special allegation, Sanchez-Johnson could be
sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Holy donut! It might be the most star-studded Mondays With Michaele of all time! And what brings out Humboldt’s heavy hitters? Happy Donuts, of course, which was recently named Eureka’s Business of the Year. Hooray!
So enjoy your weekly dose of zaniness courtesy your President of Positivity and friends above — Oh! Also, did we mention it’s Humboldt Bike Month? — then if you’re still hungry, get to know Happy Donuts’ owner Natalie Dy a bit more in the clip below. And whatever you do this week, make sure you add sprinkles to it. Ciao Bella!
Since she was elected as Arcata’s first woman council member in 1972, Alex Stillman has served many roles in her community — a council member in the ‘70s and again in 2006, a member of the Historic Sites Society and Historic Landmarks Committee and a board member of Arcata Main Street, to name a
few — and she has never stopped working to improve her little Humboldt
town.
The grande dame herself, Alex Stillman
Of course, the grande dame Stillman has some stories to tell from the last five decades and shares a few of them with you, dear listener, on this week’s episode of Humboldt Holding Up — the Outpost‘s good-enough podcast. Topic include:
How Arcata’s adapted to COVID and the joys of outdoor dining
What was Arcata like in the ‘70s? Stillman gives a shout-out to old bars the Keg and the Boot and talks about not partaking in the key parties
The start of the Arcata Marsh and Wastewater Treatment Plant
The then contentious issue of the freeway being constructed through town and the “Stop at Four” Campaign
Stillman’s passion for historic preservation
Why she is proud to hand out Mr. Humboldt’s coveted “Cougar Award”
Click on the audio player above or head on over to iTunes to hear Stillman’s chat with Andrew Goff and Stephanie McGeary and/ or scroll through past guests below.
