VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Samuel Matthew Rocha pled guilty to second-degree murder this week after he drove his Lexus into multiple bicyclists in April of 2021, killing 16-year-old Pedro Valdez and injuring four other minors.
In April of this, a Ventura County jury found the Port Hueneme man guilty of four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of battery, but the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the other counts during that trial explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Rocha eventually pled guilty to murder in the second degree and using his vehicle as a deadly weapon on Aug. 24 shared the local prosecutor's office.
On the evening of April 19, 2021, Rocha used his Lexus sedan to target a group of seven bicyclists near the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Ventura Road in Port Hueneme, striking five of them detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Four minors were injured -two with serious injuries- by the collision and one, 16-year-old Pedro Valdez, died as a result.
Rocha fled the scene in the Lexus and was followed by a witness to his mother's apartment complex before Port Hueneme Police Department officers arrived at the complex and arrested him noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, 11 minutes before the fatal collision, Rocha had battered a man and a woman at a laundromat and intentionally struck an employee with his vehicle as he left the parking lot.
The parking lot collision was captured by surveillance video noted prosecutors.
Rocha is next due in court for a sentencing hearing on Oct. 27 of this year where he faces up to 27 years to life in state prison shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
He remains in custody without bail added local prosecutors.
"Rocha made the deliberate decision to use his vehicle as a weapon, killing 16-year-old Pedro Valdez and injuring four other young bicyclists," noted Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon who prosecuted the case. "This conviction holds him accountable and brings a measure of justice to Pedro, his family, and the other victims."
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