Chip Chick
Margarett had been asleep but she woke up after hearing the gun go off, and she rushed to Shelly’s room to see what was going on.
Mauricio then shot Margarett, before turning the gun on Shelly and taking her life as well. A warrant for Mauricio explains that he killed Shelly, his own girlfriend, “because he did not want to have any witnesses.”
After shooting all three of the family members, Mauricio returned to his house as quickly as he could, where he hopped into a car and went on the run.
He left the state entirely but was later found the next day by the Utah Highway Patrol. The Utah Highway Patrol ended up having to deploy spikes to get Mauricio to stop since he would not pull over his vehicle for them.
4 days ago, Mauricio pleaded guilty to murdering Shelly, Nikki, and Margarett. The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged that if Mauricio had gone to trial and a jury deemed him guilty, they speculated he would have been sentenced to life with no parole.
“In agreeing to the plea, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office considered several factors, including: 1) the plea satisfies the public safety mission of the Office, 2) a trial would require testimony from young people who have suffered a tragedy, 3) the wishes of family members of the victims, 4) the retention of hope for the positive transformation of a person 18 years of age at the time of their crime, and 5) likely changes to California law,” the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement.
Mauricio is now 19-years-old, and he was sentenced to serve 150 years in prison. After he serves 25 of those 150 years, he will be entitled to a parole hearing.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office; pictured above is Mauricio
