By PJ Green
The Kansas City Star
NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joshua Rocha, who was convicted and sentenced last month to death for the July 2022 killing of North Kansas City police officer Daniel Vasquez, had his death sentence finalized by a judge on Monday in a Clay County courtroom.
On Oct. 2, Rocha, 28, was found guilty of first-degree murder, advancing the trial to the sentencing stage, with life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection as the only outcomes. He was sentenced to death almost a week later, on Oct. 8, by a jury that had been sequestered for the trial, after being brought in from St. Charles County.
In Monday’s approximate 15 minute-minute hearing, Clay County Circuit Court Judge David Chamberlain stated Rocha didn’t explain his “cold-blooded execution” of Vasquez before he handed down his sentence and expressed condolences to Vasquez’s loved ones.
Chamberlain also denied Rocha’s motion requesting a new trial.
Rocha is the first person Clay County prosecutors have sought to execute since 1988. He is the eighth person currently sentenced in the state of Missouri to a death sentence, according to Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Clay County prosecutors and Rocha’s public defenders declined to present new evidence, sticking to each side’s previous arguments. Prosecutors believed Chamberlain should uphold the jury’s verdict; Rocha’s public defender Stephen Reynolds asked Chamberlain to consider a life sentence, noting the jury deliberated for just 24 hours before delivering the death sentence.
Throughout the six-day trial, Rocha sat silently with a blank face as dozens of witnesses testified to the mountain of evidence that was stacked to help the prosecution.
Dashcam footage played in the courtroom showed Rocha shooting Vasquez three times with an AR-15, including two misfires, during a traffic stop on July 19, 2022, after being pulled over for expired tags. The video showed Vasquez’s body left in the road and the aftermath of North Kansas City police officers, first responders and citizens who swarmed the scene.
Jailers testified to finding contraband in Rocha’s pod while he was detained. More than a dozen videos played in court showed Rocha 3D printing gun components and shooting guns that he put together, while also selling them.
Dozens of witnesses for Rocha’s defense explained his traumatic upbringing and poor, unstable living conditions leading up to the shooting, including mental health experts who examined his intellectual disability and autism diagnosis.
But on Monday, Rocha chose to wait until just before the judge gave the final verdict before speaking on his own behalf for the first time since he was first interviewed by Kansas City police investigators more than three years prior.
“I would want to say I’m sorry to all the people I affected with my actions,” Rocha said in a courtroom full of law enforcement officers and his family members. “I know sorry can’t turn back time or take away the pain. I know some people don’t want to hear what I have to say and I don’t blame them.”
Vasquez’s loved ones, who testified during the trial, shook their heads through tears as Rocha read his statement. Vasquez’s North Kansas City police colleagues, donned in uniform, echoed similar body movements.
“To be honest, I don’t know why I did it myself. I wasn’t in the right mindset at the time,” Rocha said. He initially told investigators he was afraid of losing his vehicle because he was living in it, according to video played during the trial.
Rocha, who appeared in court shackled in a black and white prison jumpsuit, was prepared to face his sentence, he expressed in his tearful statement.
“I take full responsibility and the repercussions for my actions, even if it means I be put to death,” he said.
Rocha is facing other charges for five counts of possession of child pornography. His next hearing for that case is Dec. 19 .
Inside the prosecution’s preparations
Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson tried the case, alongside assistant prosecuting attorneys Rob Sanders, Spencer Curtis and Savina Balano.
After Monday’s hearing, Thompson told The Star it was the first time his team of prosecutors in Clay County and Judge Chamberlain had handled a trial where the death sentence was on the table.
Rocha’s public defenders, Reynolds and Delaney Catlettstout, declined to comment.
Prosecutors were notified early about the shooting and assisted with law enforcement in the investigation, Thompson said.
The state of Missouri has a list of statutory aggravating circumstances that must be present before pursuing the death penalty. Prosecutors built their case for the jury around three of those circumstances.
The jury found Rocha committed two of them: first-degree murder was committed against a peace officer in the line of duty and callous disregard for the sanctity of all human life, according to court records.
“It’s a prosecutor’s decision on whether or not to pursue the death penalty,” Thompson said. “I can tell you, there’s nothing more important when I’m making my decision as the thoughts and feelings of those most affected by the crime, in this case, Daniel’s family.”
The prosecution’s case was built from the more than three years of investigative work from over 20 people in the prosecuting attorney’s office and countless law enforcement officers in the Kansas City metro, Thompson said. Kansas City police, North Kansas City police and Kearney police, along with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, were among the law enforcement departments that assisted in the case.
Thompson also received calls from the Missouri Attorney General’s office offering assistance.
Prosecutors were confident they would get what they considered a “just result”, according to Thompson, because of the amount of evidence they amassed. They focused on Rocha’s actions and decisions leading up to the shooting, he said, even when mental health experts were brought in on the defense’s behalf.
“Our job is to show an accurate picture who the defendant is, and to cut through any of the possible defenses that the defense attorneys put up. And we think we had all the evidence in the world to show that,” Thompson said.
Prosecutors declined the option of bringing in their own expert witness, instead using Rocha’s decisions to counter the defense’s findings.
“The defendant talked to all of them for a substantial amount of times. Any expert we would have called wouldn’t have had that information,” Thompson said. “That’s why it’s really, really important to do your research and hold those experts accountable.
“Our prosecutors did an excellent job reviewing their expert testimony and revealing it for what it was.”
Prosecutors and Vasquez’s family believe justice has been served for Vasquez’s death. Thompson saw “extraordinary resilience” from them, saying both the family and law enforcement officers motivated prosecutors throughout the process. He kept a picture of Vasquez in his office as an additional reminder.
“They wanted me to make sure that the community knew how much they appreciated the outpouring of support they received, not just from the North Kansas City community, but our entire community,” Thompson said about Vasquez’s family, who declined to speak.
“They were grateful for the hard work of the investigators on the case, and they were grateful to our office for our efforts to secure justice for them.”
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