Grand jury indicts 3 in shooting of El Dorado sheriff’s deputy, moves case to trial
An El Dorado County criminal grand jury has indicted three men, two of them charged with murder in the shooting death of Deputy Brian Ishmael while responding to a reported marijuana theft last year.
The grand jury, which has been in session the past two weeks, indicted Juan Carlos Vasquez-Orozco on charges of first-degree murder, assault with a gun causing great bodily injury and assault with a gun, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon.
Also indicted in connection with Ishmael’s death was Christopher Garry Ross, who now faces a charge of second-degree murder of a peace officer, prosecutors said. Ramiro Morales was indicted on a charge of accessory to murder.
The defendants were arraigned on the indictment charges in El Dorado Superior Court on Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Vasquez-Orozco and Ross were already facing murder charges in Ishmael’s death, and Morales was already facing a charge of being an accessory. The indictment means their case skips the preliminary hearing phase and moves straight to trial. But it’s unclear when a trial will begin.
Ishmael and an off-duty San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputy responded to a 911 call on Oct. 23 at Ross’ Somerset property. The deputies came under fire from Vasquez-Orozco, authorities have said. Ishmael was killed, and Vasquez-Orozco and the other deputy were wounded.
Ross was renting out a growing area at his home in exchange for a payment of $13,000, and the grow site was being tended to by Vasquez-Orozco and Morales, authorities have said.
Ross called 911 in the early hours of Oct. 23, reporting thieves were stealing his marijuana plants in Somerset. Authorities say the 911 call was a ruse because Ross believed Vasquez-Orozco and Morales were planning to take the plants without giving him $3,000 they still owed.
