Enrique Camacho Hernandez was a 25-year-old Hispanic man from Santa Rosa, California, who was remembered by a family member as a "really nice man." His life was cut short during a violent confrontation in the city of Cotati in the late summer of 2023.
On the afternoon of August 19, 2023, Hernandez went to an apartment complex in the 300 block of East Cotati Avenue. According to court testimony, he arrived at the home of his ex-girlfriend, where another man, Samuel Meza, was present.
An argument between Hernandez and Meza erupted into a physical fight that began inside the apartment and then moved outside. A witness later told investigators that Hernandez was backing away from the confrontation when Meza opened fire. Responding officers and paramedics found Hernandez with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Samuel Meza, 34, fled the scene immediately after the shooting. However, police who responded to multiple 911 calls spotted him nearby and gave chase. They apprehended Meza in the 600 block of East Cotati Avenue just four minutes after the shooting occurred. At least two witnesses identified him as the shooter. Investigators later recovered a gun hidden behind some bushes off the avenue.
Meza, a Santa Rosa resident with prior felony convictions for burglary, vandalism, and gang participation, was arrested and held without bail. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office charged him with murder, being a felon in possession of a gun, and being a felon in possession of ammunition. During a preliminary hearing, Meza’s attorney argued that the murder charge should be reduced to manslaughter, characterizing the shooting as an act of passion stemming from a fight.
A Sonoma County Superior Court judge rejected the defense’s argument. After the hearing, the judge upheld all charges against Meza, including murder. As of April 2024, Samuel Meza was ordered to stand trial for the killing of Enrique Hernandez.
