52 year old, Jarrett Bleu Rucker of Alturas will face 26 years to life for the first-degree murder of Milton “Yogi” McGarva, a member of the Pit River Tribe, in a conviction by jury, handed down on February 27th as announced California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The tragic events unfolded in March of 2020, when Modoc County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a stabbing report at a home in Likely, where they discovered McGarva, fatally wounded, alongside Rucker, who also had sustained injuries. McGarva’s tragic death adds to the ongoing crisis of Missing Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) in California.
Attorney General Bonta expressed empathy for the McGarva family, stating that what they have been through over the past few years has been unimaginable.
The prosecution, led by the California Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, ensured Rucker faced justice for his crime. Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy voiced satisfaction with the verdict, stating, “Justice has been done, and my hope is that the McGarva family will have some peace with this verdict.”
Morning Star Gali, Executive Director of Indigenous Justice, credited the Attorney General’s Office for their efforts, saying, “If it wasn’t for the Attorney General’s Office, I don’t think we would have had this moment.”
Attorney General Bonta has been proactive in addressing the MMIP crisis, hosting statewide events and supporting legislative measures like Assembly Bill 2695, which aims to improve data collection on crimes occurring on Indian lands, aiding efforts to address the crisis.
