MENDOCINO CO., 4/21/26 — Tuesday, a 16-year-old male juvenile from Covelo was apprehended by Oroville Police Department officers, suspected to have fatally shot a 38-year-old woman, also from Covelo, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
A homicide investigation by Sheriff’s detectives found probable cause that the 16-year-old was responsible for the shooting death near Charlie Hurt Highway in Covelo Sunday as well as a domestic violence incident involving a 15-year-old female victim earlier that morning. She is a family member of the homicide victim.
According to the sheriff’s office, in the early hours of Sunday morning, the 16-year-old suspect assaulted the 15-year-old female victim after ordering her at gunpoint out of the vehicle she was driving. The 15-year-old was able to drive away and told family members what happened. The 15-year-old victim and 16-year-old suspect were determined to have previously dated.
Later that morning, the 15-year-old girl was on the phone with the 38-year-old woman when the woman was shot, according to the sheriff’’s statement.
According to the sheriff, the shooting happened Sunday morning near Charlie Hurt Highway in Covelo. The woman was transported by a citizen in a vehicle to the Covelo Volunteer Fire Department on Highway 162, where the citizen was unable to locate personnel.
The victim was then taken to a nearby address on South Airport Road in Covelo to summon emergency assistance. Law enforcement personnel found the woman unconscious, with several gunshot wounds. Sheriff’s deputies and Round Valley Tribal Police officers performed CPR until emergency medical personnel arrived and took over life-saving efforts that were ultimately deemed unsuccessful, and the woman was pronounced deceased by a paramedic.
The 16-year-old was apprehended near a restaurant in Oroville and is being held at a juvenile detention facility in Butte County, awaiting extradition to Mendocino County where he will be booked at the Mendocino County Juvenile Hall.
A forensic autopsy is scheduled for the homicide victim, and additional information including the decedent’s name will be released as the investigation progresses.
Names of the involved juveniles will not be released as juvenile names and records are exempt from public disclosure.
Prosecutors are seeking additional charges against the 16-year-old male through the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office related to the homicide investigation.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-463-4086 (option 1). Information can also be provided anonymously by calling the non-emergency tip line at 707-234-2100.