Felton, CA: Felton man arrested on supicion of killing girlfriend

By Jennifer Squires
jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com
Posted: 03/01/2010 12:36:52 PM PST
Updated: 03/01/2010 01:09:21 PM PST

FELTON — A Felton man is in jail on suspicion he killed his girlfriend during a fight in their Rose Acres Lane home Sunday night, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Neighbors called 911 for help just before 8:40 p.m. and Richard Arthur Chavez, 40, was arrested at the house less than 20 minutes later, Sgt. Ian Patrick said.
Deanna Dudley, Chavez's 37-year-old girlfriend, "died from blunt trauma," according to Patrick.
He said Chavez allegedly hit Dudley multiple times with a weapon. Patrick declined to identify the weapon, but said deputies had recovered it.
Dudley was pronounced dead at Dominican Hospital.
According to emergency radio traffic from Sunday night, the couple's housemate apparently found Dudley unconscious and bleeding from the head but breathing, according to emergency radio traffic. Medics responded and initially a medical helicopter was dispatched to Henry Cowell State Park to fly her to a trauma center.
There were no prior 911 calls to the couple's home, according to Sgt. Dan Campos, who reviewed several years of calls for service.
Chavez has a minor criminal history. He was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest in December 2008 and later convicted, court records showed.
Monday morning, Chavez remained in County Jail in lieu of $770,000 bail, according to jail records. He identified himself as a glazier — a glass worker — when he was booked into jail early Monday.
The house, a rental, is on a hilly, residential street off Highway 9 just north of the heart of Felton. There is a Christian camp down the road.
But the woman's death is the second killing in the neighborhood.
In an unrelated incident in August of 2006 a 51-year-old was fatally stabbed at Rose Acres Rest home, a small, residential, adult-care facility down the road. Cesar Ojeda Hernandez arrested and charged in the slaying but has never stood trial. A judge ruled Hernandez, who is schizophrenic, is unfit to stand trial. He is being treated at Atascadero State Hospital.