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A California man who allegedly killed a 16-year-old boy during a targeted attack on a group of teens riding bikes has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to authorities.
Samuel Matthew Rocha’s guilty plea on Monday, August 24, came after he was convicted in April of four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of battery, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a Wednesday, August 26 news release.
The case dates back to April 19, 2021, when prosecutors said Rocha, now 33, targeted seven teenagers, including 16-year-old Pedro Valdez, riding bicycles in Port Hueneme, located about a 65-mile drive west from Los Angeles.
Rocha plowed his Lexus sedan into the group, hitting Valdez and four others, according to authorities. Valdez was killed.
Two of the four other teens hit by Rocha were seriously injured, prosecutors said.
When Rocha drove off after ramming into the group, a witness who saw the attack followed him to a nearby apartment complex, where Rocha’s mother lived, according to authorities.
Then Rocha was taken into custody, prosecutors said.
Authorities learned that about 11 minutes before Rocha struck the teenagers with his car, he also crashed his car into an employee at a local laundromat, as seen on surveillance footage, according to prosecutors.
Additionally, at the laundromat, Rocha physically assaulted a man and a woman, prosecutors said.
During Rocha’s jury trial earlier this year, his defense attorney, Cate Hall, argued he hadn’t seen the teens on bikes before he hit them with his car, the Ventura County Star reported. Hall contended that Rocha was “deeply psychotic and intoxicated.”
“He did not purposefully harm them,” Hall said, according to the newspaper.
Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Craig Gardner argued the opposite in court in March and said Rocha “knew what he was doing” and “did it anyway,” according to the Ventura County Star.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon, who also prosecuted the case, said in a statement on August 26 that “Rocha made the deliberate decision to use his vehicle as a weapon, killing 16-year-old Pedro Valdez and injuring four other young bicyclists.”
“This conviction holds him accountable and brings a measure of justice to Pedro, his family, and the other victims,” Simon added.
Rocha is facing up to 27 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.
He is being held without bail ahead of his sentencing, which is set for October 27, the office said.
