Shot In The Ankles, Sacramento Student Recovering After Murder Attempt

 View Larger

Julio Guevara-Mejia is wanted for the attempted murder of Monica Bentley

In 2005, when Monica Bentley met Julio Cesar Guevara-Mejia, she was a 17-year-old high school student in Davis, Calif. She planned to pursue a career in social work. Cops say Monica and Guevara-Mejia struck up a friendship at a Sacramento-area grocery store. Eventually the friendship led to a brief relationship that lasted a couple of months, which Monica hid from her parents.

Monica soon realized that the relationship she was having with Guevara-Mejia, who is 17 years older, was inappropriate and she tried to break it off. According to police, Guevara-Mejia refused to accept the end of their relationship and began threatening, harassing and stalking Monica. Cops say everywhere Monica turned, Guevara-Mejia was there: he followed her around, sat and waited in a car at the end of her street, drove by the house, took photos of her from a distance, grabbed her in shopping plazas, sent letters and cards in the mail and left gifts on her front lawn.

Monica's mother and father helped her secure a restraining order, but cops say Guevara-Mejia was relentless and continued to stalk Monica for an additional eight months. To protect their daughter from this dangerous stalker, the family sold their home and moved to another city. Monica changed schools and got a new car, cell phone and job. Nearly a year passed and Monica was relieved that there were no sightings of or communication from Guevara-Mejia. Monica began to relax and live a normal life until out of the blue, cops say, she was blindsided and gunned down by Guevara-Mejia on November 10, 2007.

An Indecent Proposal

 View Larger

Accused attempted killer Julio Guevara-Mejia and his 15-year-old accomplice.

Cops say that a couple of weeks before Monica was gunned down, a young man, "Saga," approached Monica in a Sacramento grocery store and started a conversation with her. Monica thought Saga was nice, but what she didn't know was that he had actually been prepped by Guevara-Mejia as part of an elaborate murder plot. According to police, Guevara-Mejia told Saga to meet Monica and befriend her, which he did. After several telephone conversations, detectives say Monica and Saga agreed to meet for coffee. Monica thought she had found someone that she shared a lot in common.

Although Saga told Monica that he was an 18-year-old college student who was studying law and loved to travel, cops say he was actually only 15-years-old and lived with Guevara-Mejia in a Seattle home. According to detectives, Guevara-Mejia had driven Saga from Seattle to Sacramento to stalk Monica. Cops say in order to ensnare Monica, Guevara-Mejia had even bought Saga a cell phone with a Sacramento area code.

Cops: Obsessed Man Shoots Ex-Girlfriend's Ankles

 View Larger

Cops say Julio Guevara-Mejia tried to kill college student Monica Bentley, 19.

Monica planned to spend Saturday, November 10, 2007 with a girlfriend and invited Saga to go with them to San Francisco. According to police, Saga agreed and asked Monica to pick him up at a Motel 6 in Davis, Calif. where he told her he was staying with his father, a traveling construction worker. Monica didn't think twice about the peculiar location, but instead thought it was convenient since it was on her way to pick up her friend. 

According to investigators, when Monica arrived at room 222 at the motel, she knocked on the door. Initially, there was no answer and as she was walking away, the door opened. First, she saw a bouquet of roses and some gifts on the bed, and then suddenly, Guevara-Mejia stepped out and grabbed her.

Cops say a terrified Monica screamed for help as Guevara-Mejia grabbed her by the neck. A bystander in the parking lot yelled to let Monica go, but police say Guevara-Mejia pulled a high-caliber handgun from his pants, fired at him and missed. Detectives say Guevara-Mejia dragged Monica back into the hotel room and slammed the door shut. Cops say Guevara-Mejia then forced Monica on the bed and pointed a gun at her head. Furious, Guevara-Mejia yelled, "Now I'm going to go to jail," and then shot bullets into Monica's ankles. After falling onto the bed, police say Guevara-Mejia fired three more rounds into Monica's chest and casually walked away.

Witnesses told police that they pursued Guevara-Mejia, who fled the scene in his car. Later, his abandoned vehicle was found by cops in a cul-de-sac a few blocks away. Saga, who later told law enforcement he chose that name from a favorite cartoon character, was quickly apprehended. Saga is currently in custody awaiting court hearings to determine if he will be tried as an adult for his involvement.

Police say that Guevara-Mejia later showed up at a distant relative's house in Palm Springs just days before Thanksgiving. The relatives gave him $400 and from there, detectives say Guevara-Mejia took a bus to Houston. He has not been seen since. Police say Guevara-Mejia could be back in his native Honduras, but he also has ties to Houston, Sacramento and the Seattle area. Guevara-Mejia was last seen in Houston, Tex. on November 26, 2007 and police warn that he is likely in that area since he has two brothers and friends living there. 

At the time of the shooting, Monica was a 19-year-old student at California State University Sacramento and was working at a local hospital. Now, Monica is confined to a hospital bed or wheelchair and is in constant pain from the injuries she sustained from the shooting. Monica is paralyzed and will never be the same.

Cops say Guevara-Mejia is attracted to, hangs around and enjoys the company of young women. As part of his lure, police say he frequents where teenagers hang out and he often treats young women with shopping sprees and lavish gifts. Detectives also say Mejia could be pursuing iron work; when he was in Seattle, Mejia was a union worker on a bridge and commercial projects.

-- By Roger J. Chiang and D.L. Poon, AMW Staff