Santa Rosa Junior College Student Pleads Not Guilty To Being Accessory To Sonoma Co. Shooting Of Prostitute

A Santa Rosa Junior College student pleaded not guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court this morning to being an accessory to the attempted murder of a prostitute at a Rohnert Park motel earlier this month.

Koa James Sibley, 19, of Santa Rosa, allegedly dropped off his co-defendant Ronnie Paul Threadgill, 22, of Santa Rosa, near the Motel 6 at 6145 Commerce Blvd. in Rohnert Park on July 2 and picked him up later across the street.

Threadgill is charged with shooting the Oakland woman several times, assaulting her alleged pimp with a handgun and misdemeanor battery. He deferred entering a plea this morning.

• Previous:
• Woman Shot at Rohnert Park Motel
• Investigators Release New Information On Motel 6 Shooting
• Pair, 22 and 19, Arrested In Connection With Motel 6 Shooting In Rohnert Park
• Duo, 22 and 19, Arraigned For Shooting Of Prostitute At Sonoma Co. Motel

Threadgill is being held under $1.1 million bail in Sonoma County Jail. Judge Shelly Averill this morning reduced Sibley’s bail from $500,000 to $100,000 after she read letters attesting to Sibley’s good character and academic achievements.

Sibley and Threadgill were both participating in a SRJC weight training and conditioning program and planned to try out for the school’s football team. Sibley’s attorney Traci Carrillo said Sibley was a student athlete who made the honor role at Ukiah High School and was an active leader in MESA, the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program that provides skills to disadvantaged students.

She said Sibley has worked since he was 15 and was in good academic standing at SRJC.

“His coach said he was the first to volunteer and the last to leave,” Carrillo said.

Sibley was the “go-to kid” who gave teammates a ride without question, Carrillo said. “If he is guilty of anything, it may be only that he didn’t question why Threadgill needed a ride. He was naïve,” Carrillo said.

Deputy District Attorney Keith Shaw, who opposed Sibley’s bail reduction, said there was a “high level of cooperation in Threadgill’s escape.”

Sibley and Threadgill were arrested July 10, by which time the shooting was “headline news,” Shaw said.

“Presumable he (Sibley) would have known what was going on,” Shaw said.

Sibley has no prior criminal record, but Threadgill has convictions for false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and sexual battery, and he was arrested as a juvenile for robbery and a sex offense with a child, Shaw said.

A Rohnert Park public safety officer stopped their car as they drove away from a fast food restaurant near the motel after the shooting occurred. They were allowed to leave after another public safety officer requested emergency assistance with another possible suspect, according to the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

The alleged pimp, Alton Emanuel Stewart, is scheduled to be arraigned July 29. Sibley and Threadgill’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 30.

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