Defendant Convicted of Murdering His Parents for Financial Gain

DATE: October 19, 2026

CASE: Mark Andre Tomas Navarrete (#24FE011435)

PROSECUTOR: Principal Criminal Attorney Aaron Miller, Homicide Unit

On October 16, 2026, Mark Andre Tomas Navarrete was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder. The jury also found true allegations that Navarrete committed multiple murders, and that the murders were carried out for financial gain.

On June 28, 2024, Navarrete drove from his Elk Grove home to his parents' neighborhood and parked a few blocks from his parents' house. He then put on a mask and gloves and rode a kick scooter to his parents' home. Navarrete went through the side gate to avoid detection by his parents' front porch Ring camera and met his parents at the backyard door. After getting his parents into the garage, Navarrete struck both his mother and father on the head with an object and strangled them to death while facing them. Navarrete then drove away in his parents' car, parked it a short distance from where he originally parked and rode away on the scooter back to the car. Later that morning, Navarrete texted his deceased parents asking them if they wanted to come over for dinner. After Navarrete's sister became worried when she could not reach her parents, Navarrete drove to his parents' house with his children and "discovered" his deceased parents. Upon investigation, detectives found the kick scooter in Navarrete's garage and DNA analysis revealed his DNA under his mother's fingernails. It was also revealed that Navarrete had been scamming his friends and family with fake investments and promising to repay them at exorbitant interest rates. Detectives determined that Navarrete's parents paid back other family members for debts owed by Navarrete, and that Navarrete began to resent them. At the time he killed his parents, Navarrete stood to inherit half of his parents' estate. The case was solved by the Elk Grove Police Department in part due to Flock cameras and other traffic cameras that captured Navarrete's movements.

Navarrete faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is set for November 13, 2026, at 9:00 AM in front of the Honorable Michael Bowman.