Suspect Charged in Shop Clerk’s Slaying

A 22-year-old man accused of gunning down a Moorpark grocery clerk over the weekend could receive the death penalty after prosecutors Tuesday charged him with murder committed during a robbery.

John Charles Alvez of Lancaster is accused of robbing and fatally shooting 21-year-old Marco Aurelio Rodriguez in the family-owned butcher shop, Carniceria Rodriguez, in Moorpark. Because the slaying occurred during a robbery, the suspect is eligible for the death penalty, Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison said.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made later, said Ellison, who declined to elaborate.

Alvez appeared at a brief court hearing Tuesday where Municipal Judge John R. Smiley ordered him held in the Ventura County Jail without bail. Alvez did not enter a plea and his arraignment was postponed until May 28.

Employees, who had been in the back of the butcher shop, found Rodriguez’s body near the cash register of the store about 11 a.m. Sunday. He had been shot in the head at least twice, investigators said.

Investigators said they found a large amount of cash and other undisclosed evidence in Alvez’s car and home. But they declined to say what actually led them to Alvez, who was arrested late Sunday.