Lompoc woman pleads guilty to second-degree murder in 2019 slaying of neighbor
Jun. 16—A Lompoc woman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in the June 2019 killing of her neighbor.
Melissa Martin, 37, entered her plea before Superior Court Judge Montes de Oca, who is expected to sentence her to 15 years to life in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Anne Nudson.
Additionally, Martin was charged with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly or dangerous weapon. Martin was charged on June 12, 2019, and pleaded not guilty on Sept. 17, 2019.
Martin was accused of killing Eldri Jauch, her 74-year-old neighbor, who was reported missing by Jauch's sister on June 6, 2019.
A tip led Lompoc Police to the 300 block of North N Street, where they located Jauch's body inside Martin's residence on June 9.
Acting on another tip, detectives located Martin on the evening of June 10 at a residence in the 800 block of North Refugio Road in Santa Ynez, where they arrested her on a Ramey warrant, according to Lompoc Police.
Officials believe Martin killed Jauch with a baseball bat on June 5 while under the influence of drugs, according to Nudson.
Before her death, Jauch was described as an avid outdoorswoman who played the violin and was an advocate for Lompoc's LGBTQ community.
She was in the process of completing an advocate training program at the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center in Lompoc when she died, according to Executive Director Ann McCarty.
Martin is scheduled for a sentencing hearing at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 31 at Superior Court in Lompoc.
