Date: July 7, 2016
PAROLE DENIED FOR INMATE CONVICTED OF VALENTINE’S DAY MURDER OF BROTHER-IN-LAW FOR DISCIPLINING DAUGHTERS FOR DRESSING IN GANG ATTIRE
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Board of Parole Hearings (Panel), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, denied parole yesterday, July 6, 2016, for an inmate convicted of murdering his brother-in-law because the victim had disciplined his own daughters for dressing in gang attire. Octavio Garcia Zetina, 47, is currently being held at California Men’s Colony, San Luis Obispo. The inmate was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of second degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the use of a firearm and was sentenced May 5, 1995, to 20 years to life in state prison. Former Deputy District Attorney Bob Molko originally prosecuted the case.
Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez of the Special Prosecutions Unit attended the hearing yesterday to oppose Zetina’s parole. Before denying the inmate’s parole, the Board took into consideration Zetina’s violent history, the circumstances of the murder and lack of insight, and his prison rules violations. He will be eligible for his next parole hearing in 2019.
Murder of Jose Alvarenga
On Feb. 14, 1993, then-24-year-old Zetina was on probation for a domestic violence conviction. Jose Alvarenga’s daughters had told Zetina that their father had pushed their mother, the inmate’s sister, out of the way. She had attempted to intervene while Alvarenga was arguing with his daughters for dressing in gang attire, which had upset Zetina.
Later that day, while at a birthday party for the victim’s 1-year-old son, Zetina shot and killed Alvarenga. The victim was a married father of three. The inmate told the victim, “I told you not to hit my sister…I’m going to kill you,” before shooting the victim five times, the last shot at point-blank range to the victim’s eye while the victim was on the ground as a result of the four prior gunshot wounds. Zetina killed Alvarenga in front of the victim’s children at the birthday party with other children present while Alvarenga was unarmed and helpless.
Violent History, Lack of Rehabilitation and Threat to Society
Three years prior to the murder of Alvarenga, a drunken Zetina grabbed the mother of two of his children by the hair, hit her in the face and dragged her on her knees across the street to a curb, where he then kicked her in the face. When contacted by police, he told the officers that “he was going to kill her.” A year prior to that domestic violence assault, the inmate called the police to report that he had pulled a knife on her, and that she had been accidently cut when she grabbed for the knife.
The inmate continued to prove his inability to follow society’s rules while incarcerated, as evidenced by his 2008 prison rules violation for possessing a cell phone, and five other prison rules violations. Zetina received two of the violations after his parole hearing in 2012. The Board suggested in 2006 that Zetina complete his GED, which the inmate has still failed to do.
The inmate has a violent and unstable history, which includes fathering children with multiple women and chronic alcoholism. His reckless disregard for human life and authority, even in a controlled environment, coupled with his lack of rehabilitation and self-improvement demonstrates the serious threat he poses to public safety and proves he needs to remain in prison.