SANTA CRUZ — The suspended murder case of a Watsonville man will move forward this week after a judge deemed he had been restored to competency.
Hector Rocha, 45, has been charged with gunning down a 42-year-old man on the evening of Aug. 7. That night, Watsonville police found Victor Ruiz Alamillo suffering from gunshot wounds on West Beach Street and gathered reports of a mint-green 1967 Chevrolet single-cab truck leaving the scene. The next day, police pursued Rocha to a Pajaro agricultural field in the area of Trafton and McGowan roads, where they conducted an approximately four-hour standoff before he surrendered.
In an obituary published shortly after Alamillo’s death, his family wrote that their father and son was “a man of unwavering integrity, always lending a helping hand to anyone in need and he instilled in his loved ones the value of compassion, respect, and empathy.”
In October, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Gary Paden suspended criminal proceedings against Rocha and ordered him into the care of the California Department of State Hospitals — Atascadero to restore his competency. The judge declared Rocha mentally incompetent to stand trial after receiving his mental health assessment and evaluation.
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On Friday, Judge Denine Guy terminated Rocha’s mental health supervision while Alamillo’s family members sat in attendance. Guy ordered Rocha to continue taking his prescribed medications while incarcerated at the Santa Cruz County Jail.
Rocha is facing a maximum potential sentence of life in prison for charges including murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition, committing assault with a semiautomatic rifle and possessing an assault weapon.
The next court hearing in Rocha’s case is set for Thursday morning, to confirm a date for his preliminary hearing and consider a bail or ordered release motion. Rocha was being held Monday without bail.