Tulare police officers responded to a domestic violence call at a party early Sunday morning, and what followed ended with a woman dead and a Fresno man booked on suspicion of homicide. Investigators said a man assaulted a woman at the gathering and then drove her away from the scene before officers could arrive.
According to kmph.com, officers determined that the man assaulted the woman and drove her away before they reached the scene. Unable to locate either person during a follow-up investigation, police shared information about the couple with surrounding law enforcement agencies in hopes someone would spot them.
About 90 minutes after the initial call, police received a report of an injured person near Bardsley Avenue and Pratt Street. Officers arriving at the location found an adult woman with significant injuries; despite medical aid at the scene, she was pronounced dead. Police said she was the same woman involved in the earlier domestic violence call, according to the same report from kmph.com.
Suspect Identified, Already in Custody on DUI Charges
Detectives identified 41-year-old Marcelo Rodriguez of Fresno as the suspect in both the domestic violence incident and the homicide. By the time investigators connected him to the Tulare case, Rodriguez was already in custody elsewhere — the California Highway Patrol had arrested him in Kings County on suspicion of driving under the influence.
During that DUI arrest, CHP officers observed blood on Rodriguez and his clothing, the station's report notes. Rodriguez was subsequently taken into custody and booked on suspicion of homicide and related charges. As reported by GV Wire, the case will be referred to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office for review and the filing of charges.
Police described the investigation as ongoing and said additional information would be released when appropriate, per the same outlet. As first reported by ABC30 Fresno, the Tulare Police Department has urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
A County Already Marked by High Domestic Violence Conviction Rates
The case lands in a county that has long stood out in state data. Tulare was among seven California counties — alongside Butte, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, and Shasta — where domestic violence conviction rates ran about four times the statewide norm, exceeding 100 convictions annually per 100,000 people, according to the California Policy Lab. Statewide, California logged roughly 163,000 domestic violence calls for assistance in 2024, even as convictions fell 29 percent between 2015 and 2023, the same analysis found.
Separate research from the Public Policy Institute of California found that while overall reported incidents have dipped slightly in recent years, the severity of cases has climbed — more than half of 2023 domestic violence incidents involved aggravated assaults, up from 35 percent in 2019. The institute's data also showed California law enforcement agencies fielded more than 160,000 domestic violence calls in 2023 alone, equivalent to 18 calls every hour across the state.
This is not the only recent domestic violence case to turn fatal in Tulare County. In August, a 30-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man died in what was described as a murder-suicide following a domestic violence incident, with a child present, according to GV Wire.
Resources for Domestic Violence Survivors
Fresno County residents seeking help with domestic abuse can call the Marjaree Mason Center at (559) 233-4357. Those in other locations can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.
