Photo: Tulare Sheriff / Courtesy
Multiple videos and photos circulate on social networks of a 16-year-old girl who was murdered along with her 10-month-old baby, both of whom received a coup de grace in the forehead.
The tragedy happened early Monday morning in the Central Valley, while the mother apparently
He tried to run away with his little one in his arms, but he didn’t make it.
Ironically the victim, identified as Elyssa Parraz, had posted a video a day earlier asking who would be at her funeral. Her answer was, her baby Nycholas Parraz.
Mother and son were murdered Monday morning along with four other people; Rosa Parraz, 72 years old; Eladio Parraz Jr., 52; Jennifer Analla, 50 years old and Marcos Parraz, 19 years old.
Three people survived the massacre and one of them called 911.
At a press conference Tuesday, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the brutal attack was “deliberate, intentional and horrendous.”
He added that he could not confirm this, but he also could not rule out that the murder was carried out by a cartel or gangs. He assured that the Central Valley is being plagued by groups of drug traffickers.
“These people were clearly shot in the head and also shot in places where the shooter knew a quick kill would occur,” Boudreaux explained. “This is also similar to high-ranking gang affiliations in execution style.”
The attack
Boudreaux said around 3:38 a.m. Monday they received the calls that led them to initially believe it was an active shooter case. However, when they quickly arrived at the place, they realized that this was not the case. The family was the target of the shooting and that house had been involved in drug investigations before.
Elyssa was found along with her baby lying in the street. Authorities believe the young woman was trying to flee the scene.
“None of this was by accident,” the sheriff said, adding that not everyone inside the home was a gang member or drug dealer.
“The 16-year-old is an innocent victim, the grandmother inside appears to be an innocent victim, and definitely the baby,” the sheriff said.
Boudreaux explained that on January 3 of this year, Tulare County Sheriff’s patrol officers conducted a probation compliance follow-up.
“Basically what that is is when we meet people who are on felony probation, we stop and make sure they are following the law,” the sheriff said. “This is a familiar home to our department because gang activity has occurred routinely in the past.”
The agent who visited the home noticed shell casings lying on the ground outside the home. Using a search warrant, they entered and found Eladio Parraz, who already had previous felony convictions.
At the time Parraz was in possession of a firearm, ammunition, a short-barreled rifle, an assault weapon, and possession of a controlled substance. The 52-year-old was arrested at the time, but four days later he managed to get out on bail.
Family members impacted
Relatives of the teenager were shocked by what happened. They said in an interview with ABC 30 in the Central Valley that the young woman was from Northern California and for the last year she had been living with her father’s family in Goshen, a rural area.
“I can’t understand who can just kill a baby like that. I can not understand it. How can someone be a monster and do that? I can’t understand it,” the teen’s grandfather said without being identified.
Meanwhile, her aunt posted a video of the young woman with a message saying she would never see her again.
“She was the happiest girl you’d ever met, she loved her family, she loved her dad and mom,” said the aunt, whose name was also not revealed.
Boudreaux explained that they tried to offer security services to the other members of the family, but they refused to accept them.
Authorities believe there are at least two suspects and one more who may have been on the run. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the capture of these individuals. Boudreaux said there is a chance the reward will increase.
He asked nearby homes and businesses to review the video from their cameras to see if they caught anything around 3:30 a.m. Monday, January 16.
Anyone with information is welcome to call the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 733-6218.