Oxnard Man Acquitted Of Murder Freed From Jail

Thursday July 06, 2023

     Updated--An Oxnard man acquitted of murder last month walked out of the Ventura County Jail Thursday after the judge removed the  remaining barrier that would have kept him behind bars.

     A jury had earlier found 46-year-old Jaime Villarreal not guilty of murder in connection with the August 2019 shotgun slaying of 40-year-old Raymond Delval of Oxnard.

      It happened at the end of a family dispute at a residence in the 1000 block of Berkshire Street in Oxnard.

     The jury considered his actions self defense.

     They did convict him on weapons charges and special allegations of prior strikes were found true.

     But the judge Thursday dismissed the prior strikes and sentenced Villarreal to four years and four months on the weapons charges.

     However, given Villarreal's time already spent in jail, plus extra credits, the judge deemed his sentence already served and eligible for parole and he was released from jail.

     As a matter of fact, Villarreal had so many credits the judge reduced the time he will spend on parole by 18 months.