A prosecution statement on an arraignment hearing scheduled today indicates Irvin Tellez was in a car driven by Jaime Prieto Rocha and carrying Nancy Hammour in the backseat when Tellez allegedly shot a woman waiting at a Santa Ana curb in the face before turning his 9mm firearm on Hammour, who was shot twice in the face, died and had her body dumped under a Newport Beach bridge.
Tellez and Rocha are charged with 28-year-old Hammour's murder, but the possible prison time for the alleged shooter is much longer.
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Nancy Hammour, Found Dead on Labor Day, Sold Drugs for Mexican Mafia: Indictment
Irvin Tellez Joins Gang Partner Jaime Prieto Rocha as Suspect in Nancy Hammour's Murder
Rocha is charged with one felony count of murder that, with a conviction, sets that Santa Ana 40-year-old up for a possible sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.
Tellez, 25, is also charged with felony murder but also attempted murder with sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, and great bodily injury. He faces up to 75 years to life in prison if found guilty.
Originally identified as an Anaheim resident, the statement from the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) says Tellez lives in Garden Grove. He and Rocha were in custody on $1 million bail pending today's scheduled arraignment hearing in Santa Ana.
According to the OCDA: Rocha, a friend of Tellez and Hammour, drove them into a Santa Ana neighborhood after midnight on Sept. 2, when they pulled up to a curb where a 31-year-old woman identified only as Elizabeth G. was waiting for a friend to pick her up. Tellez had a conversation with the woman and then pulled his weapon out and shot her once in the face, according to prosecutors, who say Rocha then drove them away. Elizabeth G. survived her gunshot wound.
Tellez later shot Hammour in the face, causing her to slump onto the back floorboards, according to the OCDA, which reports she was still alive at that point. Tellez is accused of shooting her in the face a second time, killing her. Hammour's body was found dumped near the Newport Bay Bridge off Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach on Labor Day.
Still early on Sept. 2, Rocha was picked up by police in Oceanside after he requested a tow from a company there, according to the OCDA.
The arrest of Tellez was announced in late September, at which time authorities claimed he and Rocha are members of a Santa Ana street gang. Tellez goes by “Lil Speedy” and “Speedy” and has convictions dating back to 2006 for such crimes as car theft and drug possession, according to investigators, who added Rocha's nickname is “Slimmer.” Orange County Jail records have Rocha's occupation listed as forklift operator.
Also last month, Hammour's name turned up in a sweeping federal indictment of alleged Orange County gang members in and out of custody. It was alleged she sold drugs for the Mexican Mafia.
Because the first shooting took place in Santa Ana and the woman's body was left in Newport Beach, police agencies from both cities are investigating.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.