Full Notification

 The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office requested the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office today to file homicide and gang allegation charges against a fourth suspect for his involvement in the August 19, 2014 murder of Javier Limon of Santa Maria.  As a result of the ongoing investigation, Sheriff’s detectives determined 27-year-old Joseph Morales, who is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate housed in the County of Los Angeles, orchestrated Limon’s murder from his prison housing unit with the use of a cellular phone.

Limon’s body was discovered deceased by a group of field workers in an agriculture field near the entrance to the Guadalupe Dunes.  Sheriff’s detectives from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office determined Limon had been murdered.  In September 2014, detectives arrested Gregorio Augustine, Arturo Granados and Yesenia Granados, all from Santa Maria, for the roles they are suspected to have played in the homicide. 

Sheriff's detectives continued to investigate this case and have identified additional suspects who participated in Limon’s death. 

Sheriff’s detectives requested the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office today to file the violations of California Penal Code § 187 - Homicide, and 186.22(b)(1) - gang allegation against Morales.  Currently, Morales is still an inmate with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, serving a sentence for his role in a 2006 attempted homicide that occurred in the City of Santa Maria.