Adelanto Man Booked in Connection with Covelo Woman's Killing
A second man has been charged with being an accessory after the fact
Two men have been booked into the Mendocino County Jail in connection with the fatal shooting of a Covelo woman earlier this month, one of them on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to jail records.
Both men were booked July 21 by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and listed under the same court case number, jail records show. One, a 22-year-old, was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder and was being held without bail. The other, a 44-year-old, was booked on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, with bail set at $350,000.
Capt. Quincy Cromer of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrests are connected the killing of Josepha Littlewolf Thunderheart Basurto, 31.
An arrest is not evidence of guilt. Being booked into jail means only that officers believed there was cause to make an arrest; it is not a criminal charge, a conviction, or a finding by any court. Both men are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, and prosecutors had not filed formal charges as of this writing.
Booked into the Mendocino County Jail on July 21, according to jail records, were:
Elias Juarez Rodriguez, 22, on suspicion of first-degree murder. He was being held without bail. Records list him under the additional name Elias Atzael Garcia-Acosta. He was booked at 2:19 p.m., and his address is listed as Adelanto, California.
Elias Juarezgarcia, 44, on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, with bail set at $350,000. Records list him under the additional names Elias Atzael Garcia-Acosta and Elias Garcia Juarez. Booking records show he was booked at 2:55 p.m. and list his address as Porterville, California.
Basurto was found shot to death about 9 p.m. July 9 inside a pickup in the 22000 block of Rifle Range Road, northwest of Covelo, after her sister found her and called 911. The Sheriff’s Office described the location as a large illegal marijuana cultivation site and said at the time that multiple suspects appeared to have been involved.
Basurto was not involved with illegal grow, but had gone to the location to help another person, according to her mother, Sharlisa Mountainlion Unca Sam.
Basurto was a mother of four children between the ages of 4 and 13. She is remembered by her family as a loving mother and friend, a skilled horse trainer, and a California Native and powwow dancer. A GoFundMe launched by her mother and aunt seeks to cover funeral costs and travel for relatives coming from Utah, and to allow the family to attend court proceedings.
The July 21 arrests come after three other people were booked July 10 on illegal-marijuana charges during a warrant service in the same block of Rifle Range Road. The Sheriff’s Office confirmed that those arrests were all related to the illicit marijuana cultivation operation that investigators located at the property in the 22000 block of Rifle Range Road where the homicide was reported on July 9.
The homicide investigation involves the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force, the District Attorney’s Office, the county’s Marijuana Eradication Team, and criminalists from the California Department of Justice’s Eureka laboratory. Anyone with information may call the Sheriff’s Office tip line at 707-234-2100.