Tulare County Sheriff’s detectives solve girl’s murder nearly 30 years later

A lifelong criminal, Villegas had been in and out of the criminal justice system since 1991 but, through it all, his DNA from the scene never matched anything in the Department of Justice’s DNA database. In January 1991, he was arrested and charged with fighting in public in Delano. He was convicted, but served no jail time, and, instead, was given 36 months of probation. In March 2001, Villegas was arrested for transportation of controlled substances for sales in El Dorado County. However, there is no record of the disposition of this case.

Ramiro Villegas, deceased, of Mexico

Villegas was arrested in El Dorado County again in January 2002 for three counts of transportation of controlled substances for sales, possession of a controlled substance for sales, operating a drug house and child endangerment, due to the drug operation’s proximity to a school. A month later, he was sentenced to two years in State Prison. In October 2004, Villegas was released from State Prison, turned over to Immigration and Naturalization Services and deported to Mexico.