A man accused in a botched home-invasion robbery in which a Chula Vista homeowner was killed nearly 15 years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a murder charge and had his trial tentatively set for December.
Joe Mora, 34, was arrested last September in connection with the Nov. 28, 1999, shooting death of Sergio Morales.
Detectives cracked the cold case because of DNA and eyewitness testimony.
Mora’s former girlfriend, Alicia Ayala, testified at a preliminary hearing earlier this month that Mora came home shaken nearly two years ago after being questioned about the crime by Chula Vista police detectives as he met with his parole officer.
Ayala said Mora returned to their Lancaster home, snuggled next to her and their child in an upstairs bedroom and said, “I thought I’d never see you guys again.”
The woman said Mora got close to her and whispered, “It was a home-invasion robbery that went wrong. He just kept coming at me.”
Mora told Ayala that a man and a woman were with him at the crime scene, the witness said. Ayala said she called authorities about nine months later and told them what Mora had told her.
According to Deputy District Attorney Andrea Freshwater, the defendant came home upset because the officers had told him that a beanie found at the crime scene allegedly had his DNA on it.
Authorities allege that on the evening of Nov. 28, 1999, Mora and a female companion showed up at Morales’ Paseo Burga residence and tried in vain to talk their way inside. When Morales attempted to shut his front door, a struggle ensued and the victim, 54, was beaten and fatally shot, police said.
No suspect in the case was identified until 2009, when DNA evidence on the beanie allegedly linked Mora to the killing.
A status conference is scheduled Aug. 13.
– City News Service
