SANTA ANA — A 29-year-old Santa Ana man Friday pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for killing his wife while out on bail on charges of raping her.
Fernando Jaramillo Llamas pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, leading police on a chase, rape of a spouse, criminal threats, dissuading a witness by force, bringing a controlled substance into jail and robbery, all felonies. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disobeying a domestic relations court order.
He was sentenced to 32 years and eight months to life in prison. He was given credit for 2,216 days behind bars awaiting trial.
Llamas raped his wife on May 21, 2018. Upon his booking for the crime, he was found to have smuggled methamphetamine into jail.
Though he’d been ordered to stay away from the victim, they were living together when 26-year-old Maria Teresa Murillo Rojas’ body was found in their apartment at 1021 S. Standard Ave. May 24, 2019, by family members about 7 a.m., according to police.
Llamas and Rojas lived in the apartment with their 20-month-old daughter and extended family, according to police.
The suspect was not at the scene when detectives arrived at the apartment, according to police. Just after 9 a.m. on the same day the victim’s body was found, other officers responded to an attempted suicide report at Aluminum Precision Metals at 523 E. Alton Ave., where Llamas was last known to work.
When officers arrived, they saw Llamas drive off in a black Volkswagen Passat, which was spotted just before 11:15 a.m. at Grand Avenue and the Santa Ana (5) Freeway. Officers tried to make a traffic stop, but Llamas refused to pull over, triggering a pursuit that ended when he crashed the sedan at Grand Avenue and Dyer Road and tried in vain to escape on foot, police said.
Anyone experiencing or at risk of domestic violence can obtain help by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
