Man pleads guilty to murdering elderly Arroyo Grande woman
October 30, 2023
Kayonie Eliaz Mendibles
By JOSH FRIEDMAN
A Fresno man has pleaded guilty to the murder of an elderly woman whom he killed in her rural Arroyo Grande home.
On Nov. 27, 2020, while responding to reports of a possible trespass at a home in the 2000 block of Chamisal Lane, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies found blood on the stairs and the body of Marion Jeanine Vore, 77. Vore had been strangled with a belt and had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
A neighbor later identified the man he saw jump a fence and enter Vore’s yard as Kayonie Eliaz Mendibles, now 21. Hours later, at the time of his arrest, Mendibles had blood on his boots and the victim’s car key fob in his pocket.
San Luis Obispo County prosecutors charged Mendibles with murder and an enhancement for using a deadly weapon, in this case a belt. He initial pleaded not guilty.
During a preliminary hearing in the case, a deputy testified that while Mendibles was being interrogated, he repeatedly asked, “How did you know it was me?”
On Monday, the SLO County District Attorney’s Office announced Mendibles pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Mendibles faces 25 years to life in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2024.
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