Former deputy suspected of fatally stabbing son in Elk Grove shot dead by police along I-5 near Lodi

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A former deputy suspected in the fatal stabbing of his 11-year-old child in Elk Grove was shot and killed by law enforcement along Interstate Highway 5 in San Joaquin County Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The shooting happened following a chase along the interstate just south of Highway 12 sometime before 10 a.m. Elk Grove police said the shooting involved one of its officers and that no officers were hurt. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies were also involved in the incident, and all of its deputies were unhurt. It was unclear which law enforcement agency fired the fatal shots.

The injured suspect, identified as 40-year-old Marvin Morales, was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. 

The Elk Grove Police Department said in a social media post that a woman called just after 8 a.m. Tuesday, saying she was concerned about the safety of her two children, who were at home with their father. Officers responded to the 7600 block of Ferrell Way and found an 11-year-old who had been stabbed and a 6-year-old who was unharmed, police said. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, a police spokesperson said the child’s mother saw on the home’s security cameras the father assaulting the son and called police immediately. The 11-year-old died of his injuries at the hospital, police said. 

Morales fled before officers arrived at the home, where officers found a gun safe that had been emptied, police said. He was later found traveling on southbound I-5 near Pocket Road, where a short chase began and ended near Highway 12 west of Lodi.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Sgt. Amar Gandhi said Sheriff Jim Cooper was on his way to work Tuesday when he spotted the suspect vehicle after Elk Grove police sent it to surrounding agencies. Gandhi said Cooper heard he was armed, knew of his history with the Sheriff’s Office, and was involved in the pursuit.

CHP Chief Tyler Eccles said officers used a spike strip to disable the suspect vehicle, which led to a solo-vehicle crash and the vehicle coming to rest in a ditch. It was not clear whether Morales fired at police or if he was inside the car when he was shot, Eccles said.   

Traffic along I-5 was shut down at Highway 12 following the chase and shooting, according to the Sheriff’s Office.  

Morales is a former Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy who resigned from the department last year after suffering a fentanyl overdose, according to an internal affairs investigation.

The investigation alleged that Morales had used narcotics seized from misdemeanor drug busts, and in October 2023, he was found unconscious on a public bathroom floor at the Sheriff’s Office. He was revived with multiple doses of naloxone, or Narcan, before being taken to a hospital.

It was originally reported that Morales was unintentionally exposed to chemicals, until the sheriff’s internal review determined that Morales “used his position of authority to confiscate narcotics and narcotics paraphernalia from members of the public and held them accountable for the violations.”

Morales was fired from the Sheriff’s Office in February and had no peace officer powers, Gandhi said.