Santa Rosa killer gets 26 years to life in Halloween slaying

A Santa Rosa man who stabbed a homeless woman to death after taking acid at a Halloween party was sentenced Monday to 26 years to life in prison.

Jessy Zetino, 23, received the punishment for the Nov. 1, 2012, slaying of 24-year-old Michela Wooldridge.

Zetino claimed drug-induced delusions that Wooldridge was a devil made him attack her as she walked along Fourth Street, not far from a McDonald Avenue party he had been attending.

But jurors in November rejected the notion that he was somehow not responsible for his actions, convicting him of first-degree murder.

Judge Rene Chouteau called it a “vicious” attack that left Wooldridge’s 6-year-old son without a mother. He handed down a mandatory 25 years for the murder and another year for use of a knife.

“Justice was done,” prosecutor Jane Murray said after the sentencing. “Hopefully, this will allow Michela Wooldridge to rest in peace.”

Zetino did not speak at the hearing. He showed no emotion after the sentence was read.

Wooldridge’s family members did not attend. However, they said in a late December phone call with probation officials they hoped Zetino would receive the maximum punishment. Wooldridge’s stepfather said the young son was probably “scarred for life.”

“He ain’t taking it too easily,” the stepfather said in a sentencing report. “He’s starting to ask questions. This Christmas was tough. The pain, in the whole family, it’s affected a lot of people.”

The onetime Cloverdale High School student had lost custody of her son about the time she came to Santa Rosa from Humboldt County seeking help for drug abuse and emotional problems, the family said.

She slept at the Sam Jones Hall homeless shelter in Santa Rosa before staying at various campsites around town, Santa Rosa police said.

A homeless encampment later was erected in her name behind the Dollar Tree store in Roseland.

Witnesses said she was killed after midnight when she was confronted by Zetino, who was attending a party a few blocks away in the neighborhood popular among trick-or-treaters.

Zetino’s lawyers said he started seeing demons after taking one or two hits of a drug called 25I and stepped out to get air. He passed Wooldridge on the sidewalk, then sprinted back to attack her, stabbing her 13 times.

Her body was discovered early that morning by joggers.

Police had few leads, and the case went cold for nearly two years. A break came when Zetino was picked up on routine drug charges in 2014 and his DNA matched samples taken from Wooldridge.

Zetino’s then-girlfriend, Zoe Kind, testified against him under a grant of immunity.

Jurors found Zetino was aware of his actions before and after the killing. They seemed persuaded by testimony that he washed his hands afterward, drove himself home and disposed of the knife and bloody clothes.

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