A Santa Rosa man accused in a fatal Healdsburg hotel standoff is testifying

A Santa Rosa man said he was trying to protect his colleagues and never meant to hurt anyone the day of a fatal confrontation last year at a Healdsburg hotel.

Romario Cisneros testified Wednesday in Sonoma County Superior Court that he is charged with assault with a deadly weapon in the July 3, 2023, confrontation that killed Santa Rosa resident Abel Garza.

No one disputes that Cisneros killed Garza; arguments instead focus on whether or not their actions were justified.

Testimony in Cisneros’ trial began Oct. 16 before a jury of 10 women and five men, including alternates. Prosecutors concluded their arguments Wednesday, and Cisneros then took the stand to defend himself.

With the help of an interpreter, he testified that the series of events happened quickly and he did not know he had fatally stabbed Garza until investigators showed him surveillance footage.

“I never meant to hurt him in any way and I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Cisneros said in court. “I didn’t want to be here.”

He originally faced a charge of felony assault and one count of involuntary manslaughter, but the latter was dismissed on Oct. 15 shortly before jury selection began.

“There is no significant change in what we anticipate the evidence will show in the case,” Assistant District Attorney Brian Staebell told The Press Democrat last week. “This decision was simply a trial strategy, to align the charges with what we believe is the most accurate reflection of what happened.”

Cisneros faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. The manslaughter count would have carried a maximum sentence of about five years, prosecutors said.

Autopsy results found that Garza was under the influence of alcohol, fentanyl and methamphetamine when he showed up at the hotel twice on July 3, 2023, threatening staff each time.

During the first confrontation, officials said, Garza headbutted an employee and tried to hit him and Cisneros with a skateboard.

Healdsburg police were notified but said they were unable to find Garza.

When he returned, he was holding a stick and a hammer and yelled at hotel staff for calling the police, officials said.

Robert Waner, a Sonoma County district attorney, questioned the workers who were present during the confrontation, and several testified that they were afraid of Garza.

“The way it was, it was bad. I don’t know the word, but it wasn’t right,” Maria Paredesaime, a hotel worker, declared this Tuesday through an interpreter.

Officials said Garza hit a staff member with the stick before employees wrestled it from him.

Waner presented surveillance footage of employees following Garza down an alley in front of the hotel and next to The Wurst restaurant.

Garza threw rocks and the hammer at them, and Logan Brendel, a chef at the PizZando restaurant next to the hotel, testified Tuesday that the tool fell at his feet.

He said he used a towel to wrap him up before yelling for everyone to stop fighting.

Waner played the surveillance footage, and Brendel said he didn’t remember all the events he had just seen.

“It’s crazy for me to see this,” he told the court. “…that’s crazy to me.”

The prosecution’s argument appears to center on Cisneros taking direct action while other witnesses kept their distance or were unarmed.

A maintenance manager used a folding knife to push Garza away. He put it away and the two began fighting, officials said.

That’s when Cisneros attacked with the stick, puncturing both Garza’s lungs and aorta.

Cisneros testified Wednesday that he did not remember pointing the stick at Garza and did not know he was injured.

“All I wanted was to stop him, to calm him down,” Cisneros testified.

Kimi Vehilac, a pathologist who performed Garza’s autopsy, testified Tuesday that the pole caused significant injuries and that the damage to the aorta “caused massive internal bleeding.”

He verified that methamphetamine, fentanyl and alcohol were found in Garza’s system, but none of them contributed to his death.

“The stab wound was much more significant,” he said.

On August 8, police arrested Cisneros after an investigation. He was booked into jail but later released after posting $30,000 bail.

Garza’s family filed a civil lawsuit alleging negligence by the hotel in his death. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 27.

Writer Colin Atagi can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi