Man Convicted of Killing Witness and Dumping Body in Newport Beach

A 27-year-old gang member was convicted today of murdering a woman whose body he tried to dump into the ocean in Newport Beach and shooting another woman, who survived, the same day.

Irwin Tellez was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic weapon and street terrorism charges. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for the use of a firearm, inflicting great bodily harm and committing the crimes to benefit a gang, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim Mendelson.

Tellez is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20. He faces a maximum of 112 years and eight months to life behind bars.

Co-defendant Jaime Prieto Rocha, who testified against Tellez, pleaded guilty on Sept. 4 to voluntary manslaughter in the Sept. 2, 2013, shooting death of 28-year-old Nancy Hammour of Santa Ana. Rocha is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30 to 16 years in prison.

Rocha was driving when Tellez shot a 31-year-old woman in Santa Ana -- the same day Hammour’s body was found -- because she signaled an allegiance to a rival gang, Mendelson said.

Hammour, who was in the car with the two men, got “hysterical,” so Tellez shot her as well, the prosecutor said.

Rocha took the rental car in which Hammour was killed to Mexico, where he got into an accident, prompting him to return to the U.S. to get another vehicle, Mendelson said.

When police traced a license plate to the rental car company, employees told detectives Rocha was with a car that was broken down in Oceanside, where the defendant was arrested, Mendelson said.

Hammour was a drug dealer who was indicted by a federal grand jury in a massive local, state and federal crackdown on Mexican Mafia gangs in Orange County dubbed “Operation Smokin’ Aces.”

Her body was found under the Bay Bridge in Newport Beach on Labor Day in 2013.

City News Service