LOLETA, Calif. (AP) — An 18-year-old man suspected of killing three people, including a 16-year-old girl, at a rural Indian reservation in northern California was captured in Utah on Thursday after a chase, authorities said.
Mauricio Eduardo Johnson of Loleta was arrested on a murder warrant and held without bail after Utah authorities used a spike strip to disable a car associated with him after a short chase on I-80 west of Salt Lake City, according to a statement from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
A woman in another car and a second man in Johnson’s vehicle were detained, authorities said.
Johnson was wanted in connection with the deaths of two people found Wednesday at a home on the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Reservation, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A third person was found badly injured in the home and died at a hospital, authorities said.
The victims were identified as Nikki Dion Metcalf, 40; Margarett Lee Moon, 40; and 16-year-old Shelly Autumn Mae Moon.
Two juveniles were found unhurt in the home.
Other details, including whether Johnson was related to the victims, the causes of their deaths and a motive for the killings, were not immediately released.
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