Lakeport >> Donning a faded black, almost gray, and white jail uniform Javier Martinez-Cachu pled not guilty in court Tuesday morning to the slaying of a Middletown man.
The 20-year-old suspect could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty if found guilty of the murder of Luis Pimentel-Arroyo the night of Dec. 30.
The potential sentences stem from two special allegations added to the felony by Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff: committing a murder for financial gain and committing a murder by lying in wait, in other words “ambushing the victim,” he said.
Martinez-Cachu allegedly gunned down Pimentel-Arroyo, 25, while he was in a vehicle with a second female victim who sustained non-life threatening injuries. When the first officer arrived, he found Pimentel-Arroyo dead at the scene on Butts Canyon Road near Middletown, said Lt. Steve Brooks, public information officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office which is leading the investigation.
The suspected killer, according to authorities, reportedly fled the area in a silver Yukon but later turned himself in to the Clearlake Police Department just a few hours after the incident that same night.
Sitting in the Lake County Courthouse on Tuesday where the plea hearing took place was the female victim along with Pimentel-Arroyo’s family who Hinchcliff described as being “very devastated and emotional.”
Martinez-Cachu’s court-appointed attorney, Barry Melton, indicated that the court would decide the matter based upon evidence and that his client remains innocent until proven guilty.
“I trust the good people of Lake County will keep an open mind throughout the proceedings,” he said.
Martinez-Cachu faces the additional charges of attempted murder, assault with a firearm on a person and shooting at inhabited dwelling, vehicle etc.
Presiding Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom continued to case to Feb. 9 at 8:15 a.m.
Martinez-Cachu is currently in custody at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility without bail.
