Elk Grove saw 7 homicides in 2025, more than previous year. Here’s what happened
Homicides in Elk Grove increased in 2025, with seven deaths recorded by the Elk Grove Police Department, up from four the previous year.
By comparison, Sacramento County recorded 70 homicides last year, translating to a countywide rate of about 4.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents. Elk Grove’s per-capita homicide rate stood at roughly 3.8 per 100,000 residents, based on a population of 182,797 — about half a homicide per 100,000 people lower than the county average.
Comparatively, that’s lower than the city of Sacramento’s 6.7 homicides per 100,000 people, Los Angeles’ 5.9 and Stockton’s 13.3.
Elk Grove police said the seven homicides stemmed from four separate incidents, including a shooting at a local bar and several cases involving domestic violence.
Couple found shot in home
Serina Ernestina Silvestre, 37, and Miguel Samuel Rodriguez, 38, were found fatally shot inside a home on April 7, authorities said.
Officers responded to the home near Eva Avenue and Adams Street just before 11 a.m. following reports of gunfire. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said that Silvestre’s estranged husband, Michael Diego, 39, shot the couple and fled in his vehicle before getting a ride from an unsuspecting citizen to near Cosumnes River Boulevard and Bruceville Road.
That afternoon, crews responded to a call about an unresponsive man in a ditch, later identified as Diego. Diego was taken to a hospital, where a law enforcement officer assigned to the facility recognized him as the suspect in the shooting. Diego was taken into custody at the hospital and died days later after never regaining consciousness. He likely died from a drug overdose, the Elk Grove Police Department said in a statement.
Alleged family argument leads to shooting
Russell Battaglia III, 51, and Christian Battaglia, 19, were found fatally shot inside a home on June 23, authorities said.
Officers responded around 5:40 a.m. to the home on Triplefin Way. Later that day, Noah Battaglia, 18, was arrested on suspicion of homicide after investigators found him at a south Sacramento home. While officials did not say how Battaglia was related to the two men, investigators did say they believe a family argument led to gunfire.
Battaglia was arraigned on two counts of homicide at the Sacramento County Jail on June 25.
Shooting at a bar kills two
Kim Kha Huynh, 18, of Chino Hills and Phuc Minh Vo, 34, of San Jose were killed due to a shooting on Nov. 2 at the Z Town Asian Gastro Bar, authorities said.
Huynh was pronounced dead at the scene. Vo, who had been in critical condition at a hospital, died from injuries days later. Two others were injured.
Roderick Bernard Randall, 43, was identified as a suspect by Elk Grove police and was on the run until January, where he was arrested in Texas on unrelated charges.
Police said he will be extradited to Sacramento County once his federal case in Texas concludes and will be booked into Sacramento County Main Jail on two counts of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Randall’s criminal history includes a 2014 conviction for premeditated attempted murder in a gang-related shooting outside a shopping center in south Sacramento that left one person dead and wounded another. He was found guilty and was sentenced to 88 years to life in prison before changes to California sentencing law led to his release, officials at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said.
“This tragedy would have been prevented if California lawmakers had not passed the 2019 Criminal Justice Reform Act,” said Sgt. Jason Jimenez, a department spokesperson, in a statement to The Sacramento Bee.
Randall’s girlfriend, Thao Kim Tran, 25, was also arrested in November and suspected of being an accessory to a crime. Records show she was released and formal charges have not been filed.
The restaurant remains closed.
11-year-old boy fatally stabbed
Mar Aris Untalan Morales, 11, was found stabbed in a home Dec. 2. He later died at a nearby hospital.
The boy’s mother called police just after 8 a.m., concerned for her son’s safety, authorities said. She had been monitoring cameras inside the home and reportedly saw the boy’s father, Marvin Morales, 40, assaulting their son.
Morales fled his family’s home on Ferrell Way before police arrived. After officers spotted his vehicle on southbound Interstate 5 near Pocket Road in Sacramento, he led law enforcement on a high-speed chase that ended after authorities deployed a spike strip and Morales crashed.
An officer-involved shooting occurred shortly after. Morales was taken to a hospital where he later died, the CHP said.
Morales was a former Sacramento deputy who was relieved of his duties in February 2024 after a 2023 incident in which he ingested and overdosed on confiscated fentanyl while on duty.
