Second defendant enters plea in Merced home invasion homicide, allegedly happened over pot

One of the three Bay Area men accused of killing a Merced woman during an attempted home invasion over marijuana pleaded not guilty to all charges in Merced County Superior Court on Tuesday.

Travis Lavell Rucks, 20, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the Oct. 30 shooting at an East Main Street residence that killed Christina Velez, 33 and injured another person.

Merced County prosecutors have charged Rucks with murder, attempted murder, two counts of attempted home invasion robbery, two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and possession of a firearm, all felonies.

Co-defendant Emari Prescott, 22, already entered a not guilty plea to identical charges during his arraignment earlier this year.

Rucks’ attorney Scott Tibbedeaux said Tuesday he couldn’t say much about his client’s case, but said the evidence might not tie Rucks to crime scene. “I think it’s more his vehicle was in the area,” Tibbedeaux said. “No one can even place him at the site.”

A third suspect in the case, Jeremiah Marquis Macias Lacy, remains at large with a murder warrant for his arrest.

Merced police testified during a preliminary hearing earlier this year the defendants allegedly targeted the East Main Street house because Velez’s girlfriend kept marijuana there to sell illegally.

Detectives testified Velez and her girlfriend were coming home late when three men approached outside the front door and made demands. The men then exchanged gunfire with the father of the victim’s girlfriend, who was inside at the time. The father was shot in the chest during the incident, but survived.

Merced police found a cell phone at the scene that belonged to either Prescott or Rucks and contacted the Vallejo Police Department after finding out that both men lived in that city.

Police there shared with Merced officers that Prescott was on probation on a case out of Sacramento County and a separate case from Alameda County.

Prescott and Rucks remain in custody in the John Latoracca Correctional Center.

A preliminary hearing in Rucks’ case is scheduled for May 16 at 1:30 p.m.

This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.