Suspect Arrested in Slaying of Moorpark Store Clerk

Twelve hours after a clerk at a Moorpark market was fatally shot, a 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder at his family’s home in Lancaster, a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy said Monday.

After an intensive investigation, deputies arrested John Charles Alvez late Sunday night and found more than $1,000 in cash they believe he stole from Carniceria Rodriguez on Moorpark Avenue that morning, authorities said.

Alvez’s mother said her son was a friend of the shooting victim, 21-year-old Marco Aurelio Rodriguez of Canoga Park, who died of gunshot wounds to the head.

Gladis Alvez said her son worked in his father’s herb and spice business, and that the neighborhood market was one of his customers. She expressed disbelief that her son would be charged with Rodriguez’s slaying.

“It’s something that I would never expect him to do,” she said.

Deputies, who initially said they had scant evidence and no witnesses to the crime, declined Monday to say how a dozen investigators were so quick to find and arrest Alvez.

“We’d love to be able to talk about this,” said Senior Deputy Chuck Buttell, who said he feared making any statements that could prejudice a potential death-penalty case. “If we say too much, then we might as well put our case in the shredder.”

Deputies said there was not a video camera recording events in the store and declined to say what lead them to Alvez, their sole suspect.

Rodriguez was at the cash register in his family’s store at about 11:25 a.m. Sunday when the shooting occurred. Three employees were in the back of the market, but they told investigators that because of a noisy meat cutter they were unaware of what was taking place in the front, Buttell said.

Buttell said investigators searched Alvez’s car and home, where they were found a “large amount of cash” and other undisclosed evidence. He was arrested at 11:04 p.m. as he left his parents’ home. He remains in Ventura County Jail without bail, pending an arraignment Wednesday.