Innocent Plea Entered In Murder-Kidnap Case 21-Year-Old Man Charged With Killing His Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

A 21-year-old Okanogan County man pleaded innocent Thursday to charges that he shot his former girlfriend and her sister, murdered their mother and held one of the wounded victims hostage for a half-hour.

Jose A. Hernandez Sanchez of Oroville, Wash., faces trial July 19 on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and two counts of first-degree assault.

His former girlfriend, Jannette Covarrubio Rodriguez, 17, and her 12-year-old sister, Brenda, are recovering from multiple bullet wounds they suffered on May 17. Their mother, Cirila Rodriguez, was killed.

Okanogan County authorities said there had been bad blood between Hernandez and the Covarrubio family since last year, when he and Jannette ran away together. She later returned home and broke up with him.

Sheriff’s officers said Cirila Rodriguez and four of her children found Hernandez waiting for them on May 17 when they arrived at their home in Ellisforde, Wash., about 10 miles north of Tonasket. So they drove on to a neighbor’s house.

Hernandez allegedly followed them and began firing a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol at them through the closed passenger window of his pickup truck as they ran from their car toward the neighbor’s mobile home.

Jannette was hit twice in the lower abdomen, but managed to get inside and hide in a bathroom as Hernandez pursued the family into the mobile home. She later was able to run back outside, where her father found her and took her to North Valley Hospital in Tonasket.

Cirila Rodriguez was grazed by a bullet as she ran to a bedroom. Then she was killed with a single bullet to the head, deputies said.

Brenda was shot three times, in the elbow, foot and thigh, as she helped two younger siblings safely flee the trailer. Hernandez allegedly held her hostage after officers from the Sheriff’s Department and the Tonasket and Oroville police departments arrived at the mobile home.

Officers said he showed the girl her dead mother and threatened to kill her, too, unless she translated for him as he negotiated with officers. Hernandez, a Mexican citizen on a three-year visa, speaks little English.

Although he expressed concern about his safety, Hernandez made no demands. He released his hostage and surrendered after a 30-minute standoff, police said.

Hernandez remained in the Okanogan County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Court records indicate Hernandez was convicted last year of driving without a license, but has no felony convictions.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = John Craig Staff writer Bill Stevenson of the Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune contributed to this report.