Girl, 17, Accused of Fatally Shooting Boyfriend

A 17-year-old girl allegedly shot her boyfriend to death after luring him to a secluded Mendocino County road, but investigators remained uncertain of the motive Thursday.

Two other teenagers who accompanied the girl allegedly helped dump the body, and all three were being held Thursday on suspicion of murder, said Mendocino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Broin.

“I don’t think there’s any clear-cut evidence of a motive,” Broin said.

The body of Paul Steven Rodriguez, 19, who had been missing for two weeks, was found Wednesday on a remote road south of Willits. The girlfriend had been interviewed after the missing report was filed, but police would not reveal what she told them at the time.

The unidentified girl, a 17-year-old boy and Carl Dulinsky, 19, all of Willits, were arrested after an informant turned the young men in Monday, deputies said.

The tip was generated by the Willits police investigation into Rodriguez’s disappearance, Broin said.

After his early morning arrest, Dulinsky led detectives to a site near Navarro but failed to locate the body. A search team found the remains off California 128 about three miles east of Navarro later that morning, deputies said.

Police are still searching for the victim’s car, Broin said.

Dulinsky told deputies that the girl arranged to bring her boyfriend to the secluded area April 22 while he and the 17-year-old lay in wait. After the girl shot Rodriguez to death, the suspects drove south, dumping the body at the side of a road, Broin said.

He was unsure whether Rodriguez may have broken up with his girlfriend before the shooting.

“Whether it was ongoing or not, I know that at some point in time they had a dating relationship,” Broin said.

The victim’s mother, in shock after she sent family members searching for her son last month, said the girl “was supposed to be his girlfriend, but I guess she wasn’t.”

Rodriguez’s mother recognized her son’s case as part of a disturbing trend. Six young people in the Mendocino-Lake counties area have been involved in slayings since 1993.

“It isn’t the first time that something like this has happened up here,” she said. “As soon as we’re ready, we will talk, if only to protect the other kids up here from the riffraff.”

The two minors were being held at Juvenile Hall. Dulinsky remained without bail at the County Jail.

Prosecutors may ask a judge to try the two younger suspects as adults, Broin said.