The victim of a homicide in the Santa Ynez Valley more than three weeks ago was identified Tuesday as a teenager from Shandon in Northern San Luis Obispo County.
Santiago Maldonado Martinez, 17, was killed in the March 7 incident, according Raquel Zick, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency crews responded at approximately 6:15 p.m. to the 6200 block of Foxen Canyon Road in Los Olivos for what initially was reported to be a single-vehicle crash.
Personnel from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, American Medical Response and the California Highway Patrol quickly determined that the vehicle had not been involved in a crash, and that the lone occupant was dead.
Sheriff’s detectives responded to the scene to investigate the circumstances of what they initially labeled a suspicious death.
Three days later, the Sheriff’s Office deemed the death a homicide, but remained mum about any details.
Authorities did not release any information about the victim’s cause of death on Tuesday.
They also remained tight-lipped about why the resident of a northeastern San Luis Obispo County town might have been in the Santa Ynez Valley.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
