Teen to Stand Trial as Adult in Beating Deaths

With his somber parents watching in the courtroom, a 16-year-old Santa Paula boy was ordered Thursday to stand trial for allegedly beating a couple to death with a baseball bat so he could steal their luxury car.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie found there was sufficient evidence to hold Adam Sarabia to answer charges of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, auto theft and related allegations.

Sarabia will be tried as an adult in connection with the Oct. 21 slayings of 59-year-old John Ramirez Jr. and his wife, 55-year-old Joann Wotkyns. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors said they believe Sarabia’s motive was his desire to drive the couple’s 2001 Special Edition Chevy Monte Carlo.

Three teenagers testified Tuesday that they rode around in the car with Sarabia on the same day that Ramirez and Wotkyns were found bludgeoned in their bed. The car was found with the keys inside in a parking lot blocks from Sarabia’s Santa Paula home, a police officer testified Thursday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John C. West also accused Sarabia of stealing a cell phone from the couple’s house that he later used to call one of his friends.

Defense attorney Jay Johnson argued in court Thursday that prosecutors had not proved probable cause on the robbery and burglary charges. But Brodie disagreed, saying evidence shows “someone went upstairs to get what they wanted, was confronted by the victims, and murdered them in the process.”

Sarabia’s parents, Eva and Fermin, who had testified briefly Tuesday, sat with heads bowed throughout the proceeding.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for March 7.