Man pleads not guilty to shooting two women

One victim’s body left under Newport bridge.


Man pleads not guilty to shooting two women

Jaime Prieto Rocha
Jaime Prieto Rocha

SANTA ANA – A man suspected of shooting two women, including one whose body was left under a bridge in Newport Beach, pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and attempted murder.

Irvin Tellez, 25, of Garden Grove is charged with killing Nancy Hammour and shooting another woman, who survived.

Before the same judge in a jailhouse courtroom, an arraignment for co-defendant Jaime Prieto Rocha, 40, was postponed until Oct. 25. Rocha of Santa Ana is charged in Hammour’s death but not in the other shooting.

Prosecutors said Hammour was riding in a car with Tellez and Rocha early Sept. 2 when they saw a woman none of them knew, identified by authorities only as “Elizabeth G.” After the two men talked to Elizabeth, Tellez pulled out a 9 mm handgun and shot her in the face, prosecutors said.

As they drove away, prosecutors said, Tellez shot Hammour in the face and then, after she fell to the floorboard, fired a second shot, which killed her.

Police say the men then left Hammour’s body under Newport Bay Bridge off Pacific Coast Highway, where it was found hours later.

Authorities have not publicly mentioned a possible motive for the shootings. Both men have past drug convictions, as did Hammour.

Contact the writer: or 949-229-5950


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