Villanueva man pleads guilty to second-degree murder | Local News

A Villanueva man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last week in the death of Alejandro Rodriguez. The shooting took place in December 2023.

As a result of the plea deal, 60-year-old Gary Hicks faces up to 13 years in prison, followed by five years of probation. The case was scheduled to go to trial on December 9, but prosecutors negotiated a deal to avoid that.

Official sentencing will occur at a later date following a standard 60-day diagnostic evaluation.

Hicks was arrested for the crime on Dec. 12 when he was found at the crime scene in Ribera with the 39-year-old murder victim’s wife and another man who called 911 after Rodriguez was shot in the chest.

An AK-47, the murder weapon, was also found at the crime scene.

According to Hicks and the man who called 911, they were chopping wood after work in the Ribera area. As they left, they saw Rodriguez’s vehicle parked in front of his wife’s home. The man who later reported the crime stopped his vehicle to confront Rodriguez because he was currently under a no-contact order imposed by his wife, the man’s cousin, due to a pending criminal case.

In November 2023, Rodriguez was arrested on child abuse and negligent assault charges after he allegedly slapped his wife’s daughter after she made a mess in the kitchen. He died before being tried on this charge. At the time of the incident, a temporary no-contact order was put in place, prohibiting him from being near his wife.

When the man stopped his vehicle, Rodriguez reportedly exited his vehicle and the two had a verbal altercation outside his home where the young girl was present.

During the altercation, the man heard at least one gunshot behind him and then saw Rodriguez fall to the ground. The man said he turned around and saw Hicks holding a rifle in his hands.

The man told police he asked, “What did you do, Gary?” and Hicks replied, “I didn’t do it.”

The man said the gun was his and was in his truck before the argument with Rodriguez. He said he hadn’t held the gun two months earlier, but said he took the gun away from Hicks after Rodriguez was shot.

After the man called 911, Rodriguez’s wife arrived on scene and checked her husband’s body for a pulse before paramedics arrived, but found none. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner’s office.

Hicks claims he did not fire the fatal shots. When questioned by investigators, he told them that he heard the shots behind him, took the rifle out of the vehicle and put his finger on the trigger in self-defense.

When investigators told Hicks that the man said Hicks killed Rodriguez, Hicks replied, “Well, he’s an honest person. So if he told you that’s what happened, then that’s what happened.”

At that time, Hicks was charged with first-degree murder. However, as a result of the agreement, the charge was reduced to second-degree murder.

A sentencing date has not yet been set.