Formal Charges Filed Against Suspect In Deadly Ventura County Crime Spree

Tuesday September 03, 2024

(Johnson photo courtesy VCSO)

     Update--The Ventura County District Attorney's Office has filed formal charges against the suspect in that deadly crime spree in Ventura County last Thursday afternoon that left two people dead.

     Prosecutors have charged 42-year-old Alvin Otis Johnson of Camarillo with two counts of murder plus special allegations of use of a deadly weapon and use of a firearm.

     Johnson is alleged to have fatally stabbed 33-year-old Ricardo Juarez of Camarillo in Juarez's vehicle around 1 PM Thursday afternoon on Rice Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard, just outside the Oxnard city limits.

     About four hours later, Johnson is accused of killing 75-year-old Marilyn Gallagher at a residence in the 3400 block of Huerta Court in Camarillo.

     She suffered major head trauma.

     At the time, detectives did not say how she died, only that it was allegedly at the hands of Johnson.

     But the murder charge filed against Johnson comes with a special allegation that he used a firearm to beat her to death.

     Johnson is also accused of using the gun to hit to two other people.

     The authorities say Johnson was acquainted with some of the victims.

     Johnson did not enter a plea at his arraignment Tuesday and it was continued until September 25th.

     He is being held in the Ventura County Jail without bail.