San Leandro Computer Engineer Charged With Murder in Death Of Girlfriend

SAN LEANDRO, CA — A computer engineer has been charged with murder for allegedly running over and killing his girlfriend during a domestic dispute near their home in San Leandro last week, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Kevin Valasco, 26, was arraigned earlier this week on the murder charge for the death of 29-year-old Adriana Roybal in the 400 block of Ruth Court shortly before midnight on Feb. 1 and is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Feb. 17 to enter a plea.

San Leandro police Detective Thomas Rogers wrote in a probable cause statement that after Valasco was arrested at the scene he "made spontaneous statements to officers admitting to driving over the victim."

Rogers said Valasco and Roybal started dating last June and moved in together at a residence in the 400 block of Ruth Court the following month.

On the night of Feb. 1, Valasco and Roybal "got into an argument over their failing relationship," Rogers said.

At one point Valasco locked himself into a spare bedroom and "continued to grunt, yell and destroy property," according to Rogers.

Later on, "The argument escalated to the point where the victim (Roybal) and the suspect (Valasco) began to physically assault each other," Rogers wrote.

Valasco left the residence at one point and admitted to police that he was mad because Roybal "was belittling him throughout the argument," Rogers said.

Valasco later got into his red BMW, which was parked in the driveway, and hit a trash can and then Roybal stood in front of his car, according to Rogers.

Roybal got on top of Valasco's car and continued to yell at him and Valasco tried to get away from her by putting his car in reverse, Rogers wrote.

Valasco told police that he saw Roybal fall off the front of his BMW and admitted he knew she would be injured if he drove forward, Rogers said.

But Valasco said he wanted Roybal to move so he drove slowly but admitted that he put his car in drive, pushed the gas pedal and didn't steer around her, according to Rogers. Valasco told police that he felt "a thud from rolling over an object" and admitted that he knew he had run over Roybal, Rogers wrote.

Valasco got out of his car, was confronted verbally by a neighbor and then yelled for the neighbor to call 911, according to Rogers.

Roybal was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several witnesses said they saw a red BMW run over Roybal, Rogers said.

Roybal's family members are trying to raise $4,000 to pay for her to be buried in her hometown of Santa Ana in Orange County and have raised $3,600 as of today, according to their GoFundMe page. Her family members said Roybal, who was also known as Drina Love, "was full of life and was passionate about everything she did and always gave her 100 percent."

They said the last 18 months of Roybal's life had been marked by tragedy because her father died on Oct. 15, 2015, and her mother died on March 1, 2016.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock