Guilty verdict in 2019 slaying of El Dorado Deputy Brian Ishmael at marijuana grow site

A jury in Placerville on Friday convicted a man of second-degree murder in the shooting death of El Dorado County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Ishmael, who was killed in October 2019 responding to a bogus call about the theft of marijuana plants from an illegal grow site near Somerset.

Juan Carlos Vasquez-Orozco, 22, who authorities say had been in the United States from Mexico illegally, also was convicted of assault with a firearm on three other deputies.

“The guilty verdict does not bring Deputy Ishmael back to his heartbroken family, but it sends a message that those who bring dangerous drug activity to El Dorado County and endanger law enforcement and the public will not go unpunished,” El Dorado District Attorney Vern Pierson said Friday after the verdict.

Ishmael, the 37-year-old father of three, was responding to a midnight 911 call from property owner Christopher Garry Ross, who told authorities he saw people in his marijuana grow and thought they were stealing his plants.

In reality, authorities say, Ross was renting out his property as a grow site for $13,000 and knew it was being tended by Vazquez and another man. Officials have said Ross called 911 because he believed the men paying Vazquez and another man planned to take the plants without paying him $3,000 they still owed.

As Ishmael and three other deputies approached the site, Vazquez opened fire, striking Ishmael four times and wounding another deputies.

Vazquez, who faces life in prison, is scheduled for sentencing May 13, Pierson said.

Ross has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with the stipulation that he will be sentenced to 11 years, eight months, Pierson said.

Ramiro Bravo Morales, who was tending the site with Vazquez, was convicted of being an accessory after the fact and pleaded in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 11:09 AM.