Man Pleads Not Guilty in Slaying of Woman During Ventura Mall Carjacking

Standing in jailhouse blues before a Superior Court judge, 29-year-old Alan Brett Holland waived his right to a speedy trial and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he shot and killed a 65-year-old Oxnard woman during a carjacking at a Ventura shopping mall.

Last week, the Ventura County Grand Jury indicted Holland for murder, robbery, carjacking and committing a felony while using a gun.

Because the slaying of Mildred Wilson allegedly occurred during a carjacking and robbery, Holland faces two special circumstances that make him eligible for the death penalty.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona said her office has not decided whether to seek the death penalty in this case.

“My office will pursue this case as any other,” she said outside the courtroom Tuesday. “I am not going to render an opinion as to whether the office will seek the death penalty.”

If Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury decides to pursue a death penalty case, it could be the first in Ventura County to utilize a new state law that makes murder during the commission of a carjacking an offense punishable by death.

“I don’t know of any other that has used that as an allegation,” said Deputy Public Defender Joe Villasano, one of two attorneys assigned to represent Holland.

During Holland’s arraignment Tuesday, Villasano asked Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell to prohibit newspaper photographers from taking pictures of his client because of “identity issues.” The judge agreed to the request.

After the ruling, Villasano would not elaborate on the nature of the identity issues.

“I don’t actually want to talk about the case,” he said.

Mildred Wilson was killed July 20 in the parking lot of the Poinsettia Mall in midtown Ventura when she refused to give up the keys to her 1986 Ford Crown Victoria.

Holland, a Hollywood resident, was tied to the slaying after he allegedly used Wilson’s credit card at a Ventura gas station. Prosecutors say he was hanging around a Shell station on Seaward Avenue the day of the slaying and for two subsequent days offering to buy gas for people in exchange for cash.

Holland is also awaiting possible indictment on felony charges in Orange County where he tried to flee from police. Officers were attempting to pull over the 1980 Datsun he was driving after a routine traffic violation. During his arrest, officers recovered a concealed .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which police later said was used to kill Wilson.

Corona said Holland will not be prosecuted on any Orange County charges until the Ventura County case is resolved. The case is expected to go to trial in May.