Livermore man given 21-year prison term in 2019 homicide

DUBLIN >> A Livermore man has accepted a 21-year prison term for killing a man he'd fought and argued with for a long time before the homicide, according to court records.

John Michael Inocencio's deal required him to plead no contest to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for prosecutors dropping a murder charge against him. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced Feb. 16 and remains jailed in Dublin until then, court records show.

The plea deal ends a case that has spanned 41/2 years, including a time where Inocencio was believed to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.

The victim, 31-year-old Juan Manuel Elias, was shot and killed on the ground between a Walmart and a Kohl's after rushing to the 2700 block of Las Positas Road around 4:06 a.m. on Aug. 7, 2019.

Police arrested Inocencio in Elk Grove hours after the homicide. In an interview, he told investigators the killing was self-defense. Police, though, called it homicide based on a long-standing feud between Elias and Inocencio.

Both men were known to stay in the same homeless encampment near a creek that runs by the area where officers found Elias, police spokesman Officer Art Rosas said. Others who lived in the encampment testified at the preliminary the two did not like each other.

Judge Michael Gaffey, who presided over the 2021 preliminary hearing, noted that there were bullets found in the ground next to Elias' body and added, “it does not appear to be a self-defense issue based on what I've said and based on the physical evidence that is at the scene,” according to a transcript of the hearing.

Inocencio entered his no contest plea Jan. 18. He'll receive credit for the time spent in jail since his arrest.