Gabriel Jose Zepeda of Santa Maria was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Theresa Carina, 50, who was found dead in a lower State Street parking lot on Monday.
Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said at the time that police responded to the report of an unresponsive woman found in a business’s parking lot in the area.
Detectives found physical evidence at the scene and received information about a potential suspect who was in the area where Carina was located.
That person was wearing a GPS tracking ankle monitor due to his probation terms, he said.
Zepeda had been released from jail last Thursday, related to another criminal case, and was arrested on suspicion of murder Monday afternoon, Ragsdale said.
Zepeda, 46, has been charged with murder and special allegations of committing the killing during the commission of a robbery; murder while out on bail on his own recognizance (related to a different criminal case); having a prior “strike” conviction of a serious or violent felony; and having a prior conviction of a serious felony.
The District Attorney’s Office cited Zepeda’s 2015 conviction of attempting to prevent/dissuade a victim or witness as the prior serious felony.
Zepeda has other criminal convictions and pending cases in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, including stalking, false imprisonment, burglary, and contempt of court for violating a protective order.
His arraignment for the murder case was continued to April after a brief court appearance Wednesday afternoon, and he is being held in jail custody without bail, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The day after the homicide, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors briefly discussed this case when they received a report about criminal-justice system improvement goals.
County departments – Sheriff’s Office, Probation, District Attorney, Public Defender – are collaborating on system improvements such as how risk assessments and needs assessments are conducted for people in the criminal justice system, including people booked into and discharged from the county’s jails.
The fact that Zepeda had recently been released from jail custody at the time of the alleged murder was concerning to the supervisors.
Supervisor Gregg Hart, who represents Santa Barbara, referred to it as “this horrific crime,” and said: “This is something that is not acceptable, and I know everyone involved is working fast and hard to make sure justice is serve and that the system is able to make sure an issue like that doesn’t occur in the future.”
Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, who represents Santa Maria, said he needs more of the details in this case so he can continue supporting the overall criminal-justice improvement efforts and answer questions about it to his constituents.
“What can trigger a complete reversal is something like what happened this week,” he said.
“I think what you’re feeling is what a lot of us are feeling,” County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato said.
She said county departments would come back with more information about this specific case.
While one of the goals of the criminal-justice system improvement efforts is to reduce the jail population, the goal is specifically to reduce the number of people in jail who should not be there, she said.
“Every criminal-justice partner will say and believe that there are people who need to be in jail – your public defender will say that,” Miyasato said.
Supervisor Bob Nelson, who represents Orcutt and other North County communities, said what happened in Santa Barbara “is just a regular weekday in Santa Maria and Lompoc.”
The communities he represents have shootings and homicides reported on a weekly basis, he said.
“Yes, the person who did it had an ankle monitor on, but I would be shocked if the perpetrators in (North County incidents) are not involved in criminal justice in some way. These are not first-time offenders.”
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.