Hollister man pleads guilty to killing young mother in 2012

Monday, just as the jury trial was set to get underway, David Quiroz pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of Heather Carroll.

The 25-year-old disappeared after she dropped her son off at Ladd Lane Elementary School in October of 2012. Carroll’s car was found off Enterprise Road completely burned in a ag field the day after she was last seen, that prompted an all out community and law enforcement search for the mother. David Quiroz who was close friends with Heather and her husband, Grady Carroll, even joined in the search for Heather.

As detectives went to Quiroz’s home to interview them, they got a tip that he was suicidal and possibly armed. An 11-hour standoff ensued with several law enforcement agencies and SWAT team members. Eventually, Quiroz surrendered and showed officers where he had Carroll’s body.

Quiroz claimed the two had gotten in to a fight the day she disappeared.

San Benito County District Attorney Candice Hooper says Quiroz pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and will be sentenced sometime in the middle of September.