DA files charges against suspect in killing of woman
The Solano County District Attorney has filed a criminal complaint against a 26-year- old man, charging him with the Aug. 14 murder of an unidentified 38-year- old woman at a traffic stop in Cordelia and dismissed charges against the initial suspect, The Reporter has learned.
In the complaint filed Sept. 17 in Superior Court in Fairfield, the DA cited two other counts against Randall James Garner: shooting at an occupied vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in addition to citing three prior convictions for joyriding, or taking someone else’s vehicle without their consent.
Court records appear to indicate that Garner faced jail arraignment on Sept. 17 in Department 5, Judge Stephanie Grogan Jones’ courtroom, in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Grogan Jones ordered Garner and his defense attorney, Gregory S. Clark of Vacaville, to return at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 16 for a readiness conference and to set a preliminary hearing.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira leads the prosecution.
Details of the investigation and the circumstances that led to Garner’s arrest were not available at press time Thursday. Lt. Jausiah Jacobsen, the public information officer for the Fairfield Police Department, the lead agency in the case, did not return a request for more information.
But court records also indicate the DA some weeks ago dismissed the murder charge against Louis Ray Marsh, 58, of Fairfield. However, legal proceedings against him for other charges, apparently unrelated to the murder investigation, continue in Department 11 in the Justice Center.
Killed in the pre- dawn hours of Aug. 14, the deceased woman has not been identified by the Solano County Coroner, which previously cited an ongoing investigation as the reason.
Fairfield police investigators said the events leading to the killing began when the victim waited at a traffic light on Lopes Road near the on-ramp to Interstate 80. Investigators initially said the killing likely stemmed from a previous altercation.
The driver of the victim’s vehicle sped off onto the freeway, the suspect shooting twice at him, striking his vehicle, police said. He subsequently exited at Central Way and Pittman Road and called police. His female passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.