Modesto double homicide suspect accused of using baby as ‘human shield’ during arrest
Three people accused in a double homicide were charged Monday, and more details were released about the pursuit that preceded two of their arrests and involved a baby and a toddler.
Amber Gartin, 20, Salvador Licea-Valencia, 28, and and his brother Manuel Alejandro Licea-Valencia, 24, have been charged with a number of crimes, including murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the Dec. 21 deaths of Julian Sisk and Taurean Travis.
Warrants had been issued for their arrests when Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies spotted a vehicle associated with them traveling south of Crows Landing Road near Glenn Avenue on Thursday.
Gartin and Salvador Licea-Valencia were in the vehicle with their children, ages 5 months and 18 months. Sheriff’s Sgt. Luke Schwartz said the vehicle’s windows were tinted and deputies did not immediately know children were inside.
They initiated a traffic stop and Gartin, who was driving, pulled over in a parking lot. Deputies drew and pointed their firearms at the vehicle, which is standard in a high-risk stop.
Schwartz said deputies first ordered Gartin out of the vehicle. She complied and was handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car.
But as deputies turned their attention to Salvador Licea-Valencia, Schwartz said, Gartin managed to slip out of her handcuffs and escape from the patrol vehicle. Deputies quickly apprehended her again, but at some point, Salvador Licea-Valencia managed to get into the driver’s seat of the car.
That’s when deputies learned there was at least one child in the vehicle. Schwartz said Salvador Licea-Valencia picked up the 5-month old child and “lifted it up, using it as a human shield to block himself from deputies.”
He then drove away and a pursuit ensued. Schwartz said deputies feared Salvador Licea-Valencia would use the child as a hostage.
The pursuit went down a few side streets before entering Whitmore Avenue in Ceres.
Deputies used spike strips on the vehicle at Whitmore and Morgan Road and it collided with another vehicle about a block away at Blaker Road.
Everyone involved in the crash was either not injured or had minor injuries.
Neither of the suspects’ children were restrained inside the vehicle. Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said that out of an abundance of caution, they were taken by helicopter to a children’s hospital and found to be uninjured.
Sheriff’s deputies had to use a K9 to apprehend Salvador Licea-Valencia at the scene of the collision.
On the same day, Manuel Alejandro Licea-Valencia was detained by police in Corning, south of Red Bluff off of Interstate 5. Bear said Corning police worked with Modesto police on the apprehension and Modesto detectives transported Manuel Licea-Valencia back to Modesto to book him.
In addition to the murder and conspiracy charges, Salvador Licea-Valencia is charged with child abuse, evading and hit and run with injuries, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Gartin also is charged with child abuse and escape after arrest.
In relation to the murder charges, Salvador Licea-Valencia faces enhancements for premeditation and personally discharging a firearm and a special allegation of lying in wait.
Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Goold said the special allegations make Salvador Licea-Valencia eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted and found true.
According to the complaint, Gartin took her children to a family member’s house on the day of the murders and then went to Sisk’s house, where she “tells Julian Sisk’s family that she has guns, will shoot Julian Sisk and asks them to have Julian Sisk come outside.”
Bear said both victims went to a home on Thrasher Avenue where all three suspects live.
The complaint says Salvador and Manuel Licea-Valencia and two other unidentified males armed themselves with firearms, hid behind a fence in front of the Thrasher Avenue home and discussed a plan to murder Sisk.
Modesto police have not provided details about what happened next or a possible motive. Asked whether it was just Sisk who was targeted and if Travis was an unintended victim, Bear said the case remains under investigation.
Neighbors at the scene reported hearing about 10 gunshots.
Asked about the other two males who the complaint said were with the Licea-Valencia brothers, Bear said, “We are still investigating whether there are additional suspects.” She also said that investigation into two fires at the shooting site after the homicides is continuing.
The brothers and Gartin are being held without bail and are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 3.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 4:54 PM.
