Santa Rosa Murder Suspect Killed After Jumping Into I-5 Traffic
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) - A man suspected of killing a Santa Rosa woman on Sunday died Monday morning when he ran in front of a tractor-trailer on Interstate Highway 5 after challenging Stockton police to shoot him, a Santa Rosa police sergeant said.
John Quincy Ellis, 46, of Stockton, was suspected of fatally shooting 61-year-old Carole Marie Brooks at her home on Sunday afternoon.
Police received a call at 1:48 p.m. from someone who reported hearing gunfire and a woman screaming at a home at 934 Clark St., near downtown Santa Rosa.
Brooks had been shot and was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Police were told a man—later identified by investigators as Ellis—had left the area in a sliver-colored compact vehicle, police said.
Santa Rosa police learned the car had been rented in the Stockton area, Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. Investigators went to Stockton and, with the help of Stockton police, identified Ellis as the murder suspect.
Ellis was spotted this morning around 8:20 a.m. driving the rental car, Banayat said.
Stockton police Officer Pete Smith said Santa Rosa police had been watching Ellis' rental car in unmarked vehicles and asked Stockton police to pull him over with their patrol cars.
They did so on southbound Highway 5 near March Lane, Smith said.
Ellis got out of the car and made "furtive movements" and told police to shoot him, Smith said. He then ran into traffic, jumped a median barrier and was struck by a diesel tractor-trailer in the northbound lanes, Smith said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Santa Rosa police have not disclosed the relationship between Ellis and Brooks.
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