“Criminalists at the California Department of Justice are called upon by numerous counties in California to process crime scenes. This is not an easy task and can take a toll on these public safety professionals. We value their investigative work at crime scenes, the processing of evidence that follows, and testimony in cases that go to trial.”
CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
UKIAH – On September 22, 2026, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting a violent assault with a knife on Hensley Creek Road in Ukiah.
Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers responded to the scene. The caller stated she discovered an adult male had murdered an adult female at the location with a knife.
Deputies met the reporting party along the driveway to the property and were directed to the scene where the assault occurred. Deputies arrived and encountered an adult male, later identified as Isidro ValenciaOrtiz, near a residence. ValenciaOrtiz was holding a knife and was ordered to drop the weapon and surrender. ValenciaOrtiz eventually complied with the orders, disarmed himself, and was detained in handcuffs.
Deputies then searched the property and located an adult female, 40, with wounds consistent with a violent assault. The female was pronounced deceased at the scene by medical personnel. The victim was determined to be a relative of ValenciaOrtiz.
Detectives were summoned and a warrant was authored and granted for the property where the homicide occurred. Criminalists from the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services Eureka Lab and Santa Rosa Lab were requested to process the crime scene. During the search warrant service, evidence was located and seized which was consistent with a violent assault and homicide occurring at the property.
ValenciaOrtiz was arrested for 187(a) PC – First-degree murder, and 12022(b)(1) PC – Use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. ValenciaOrtiz was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he is being held in lieu of $2,000,000 bail.
