Crime & Safety

Video Shows Slain Teen with Mystery Man before Shooting

The Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office is still in search of anyone with more information on the March 1 homicide.

Investigation into on Soquel Drive is continuing, as the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department is asking anyone with information to step forward and aid the cause. 

Sheriff's Deputy April Skalland will be hosting a meeting at the community building of the apartment complex at 7 p.m. on Wednesday to inform the residents about the events of March 1 and how to maintain safety in the future. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting, which Skalland said will likely include a Spanish translation. 

The Coroner's Office determined after a medical examination that Connally died from a single gunshot wound to the pelvis, according to an official release from the Sheriff's Office. 

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Sheriff's Office is preparing to release a video to the public which shows Connally and another man walking in the apartment complex shortly before the shooting, Skalland told Patch. The hope is that someone recognizes the man and reports his identity, so that the detectives can interview him and continue the investigation. The video will be available for viewing on Patch on Tuesday afternoon.

Skalland said the man would not automatically become a suspect upon being identified.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Investigations wants to interview him. For whatever reason, he's not coming forward and we don't know why that is," Skalland said. "He wouldn't necessarily become a suspect, but they'd want to know what his part was in it. They don't consider him a suspect right now."

It has not been determined if played a direct role in the shooting, but Skalland said the homicide is not believed to be a random act.

"We think he was targeted," she said. "We don't know who did it, because we're not getting people that we know were there talking to us. We could speculate all day long about who did it or why, but we really don't have that information, so we don't know if it has anything to do with his criminal history. But I don't think he just got shot for no reason."

Stay tuned to Patch for the surveillance footage Tuesday afternoon. To contact the Sheriff's Office, call 831-454-2311, email shf236@co.santa-cruz.ca.us or call the anonymous tip line at 831-454-2487.

To keep up with every Patch story related to the homicide, click here.

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