Santa Rosa mother arrested in Windsor teen’s slaying

Sonoma County sheriff’s officials believe the woman drove three teens suspected in a 2014 slaying to Mexico, where they were later arrested.|
PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Santa Rosa mother has been arrested in last year’s shooting outside a Windsor party that left a 15-year-old dead and three others wounded.

Leticia Isela Sanchez, 43, is charged with driving the three suspects, all minors at the time, to Mexico after, detectives said, one of them gunned down Windsor High School sophomore Nathan Torres.

Suspects Flavio Caballero, Duane Morgan and Oscar Aguilar, now all 18, have since been arrested. All are charged with murder.

Sanchez became a “person of interest” about two months after the June 22, 2014, slaying, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Shannon McAlvain said Friday.

A warrant for her arrest was issued Feb. 26 and she was picked up Aug. 17 in Santa Rosa, he said.

She is believed to have driven the men through California to Mexico three days after the killing.

They crossed the border and headed east, he said. They were arrested about four months later, on Oct. 20, in the state of Sonora, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

Their preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 14.

McAlvain would not say how long Sanchez is believed to have stayed with the suspects.

She is charged with three felony counts of being an accessory after the fact with special gang allegations and three misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors.

If convicted, she could face more than 10 years in prison. She is expected to enter pleas Monday.

Sanchez is the mother of Sergio Quiroz, 21, who earlier this year pleaded no contest to being involved with the suspects’ getaway. Quiroz was suspected of driving the three teens to Reno and back the day after the slaying.

According to court records, Sanchez was convicted of drug-related offenses three times going back to 2004.

Prosecutors believe Caballero shot Torres after he and the other suspects were ejected from a party at Windsor Avenue and Windsor River Road.

An attorney for one of the suspects said the shooting came in self-?defense when they were attacked by friends of the victim.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@ppayne.

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