Posted by Robert Salonga, Caelyn Pender

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/no-loose-ends-san-jose-triple-homicide-stemmed-from-domestic-violence-authorities-say/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211903

SAN JOSE — A man jailed and charged with fatally shooting a woman he was dating, along with her roommate and another man at a South San Jose apartment was under police scrutiny after the woman accused him of assaulting her over two days prior to the killings, authorities revealed in new court filings.

The shooting suspect, 27-year-old Joseph Vicencio, allegedly told an acquaintance that he “couldn’t have any ‘loose ends’ and people talking about him” shortly before he went over to the woman’s apartment early Tuesday and unleashed a torrent of gunfire that ended three lives.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Vicencio was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Tarrah Lynn Taylor, 27; Jeannessa Caillean Lurie, 24; and Max Chavez Ryan, 27.

Vicencio was arraigned Friday and did not enter a plea. He was remanded to jail and ordered to next appear in court on Oct. 24.

A probable cause affidavit written by San Jose police detectives stated that Taylor was in a romantic relationship with Vicencio and that Lurie was her roommate. Ryan was in a dating relationship with Lurie.

The three murder counts each carry maximum sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and are accompanied by nine charging enhancements for allegations including using a gun, dissuading a witness and having prior convictions, one of which was for shooting into the San Jose State University’s library six years ago.

Vicencio was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and for two separate domestic violence assaults alleged to have occurred on Sept. 14 and 15, preceding the Sept. 16 shootings.

“This is a horrible and tragic, tragic murder case,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said after the arraignment. “The DA’s office will do everything in its power to make sure that there is justice, to make sure that this defendant is locked up for the rest of his life so that he cannot hurt anyone else in our community.”

Nearly three dozen friends and family of the victims packed the courtroom and could be seen consoling each other. They declined to comment when approached by reporters.

Vicencio was arrested early Wednesday based on video surveillance images and two witnesses who claimed to know Vicencio and recounted their interactions with him before and after the shootings, according to the affidavit.

One of the witnesses told police that Vicencio was anxious about being in trouble with the law after he allegedly punched Taylor in the torso on Sept. 15. The subsequent police response found bruising on Taylor’s neck, indicating that Vicencio choked her the day before, according to authorities. Taylor reported two separate assault incidents to the police, which account for misdemeanor and felony assault charges filed against Vicencio.

Vicencio was not present when police took the assault report but he had been living at the apartment at the time, Rosen said.

During one conversation with the witness, Vicencio allegedly implied that he was going to silence Taylor and Lurie, and after the shootings, Vicencio reportedly used the witness’s computer to “search for information about San Jose murders.”

A second witness, as described by the detectives, reported getting a call from Vicencio about seven hours after the shootings in which he said “he was in trouble with police and had issues with where he lived and needed help.” The witness claimed to have confronted Vicencio about the killings, prompting Vicencio to reportedly tell the witness, “there was an issue with a male at the apartment, but he handled it.”

Gunfire and the sound of a woman screaming prompted a 911 call at 12:26 a.m. Tuesday from the 200 block of Chynoweth Avenue. The police affidavit stated that responding officers went to an apartment building and found Taylor outside “bleeding profusely from multiple gunshots.”

Officers went inside and found Lurie and Ryan. Lurie was pronounced dead at the apartment; Taylor and Ryan died later that morning after being taken to a hospital. Police recovered multiple .40 caliber bullet casings from the crime scene.

The police affidavit states that surveillance video from the area recorded someone later identified as Vicencio entering the apartment and fleeing immediately after the gunfire. Vicencio was seen with a distinct satchel that one of the witnesses said concealed a firearm that he carried, and that witness reported that Vicencio was not carrying the satchel after the shootings. Both the satchel and gun were recovered by police.

Ryan worked as a community coordinator with the housing department’s outreach team, a role he began in February, said Sarah Fields, deputy director of public affairs for the City of San Jose’s Housing Department. He worked in the field with unhoused people to help them enroll in support services.

“(He) really saw himself thriving and finding professional satisfaction and camaraderie with his colleagues in this work of really partnering in with and helping people who were frankly in their most vulnerable and challenging part of life, and then finding a new and better path forward,” Fields said. “He was the kind of guy who smiled and said hello to everyone in the hallway.”

Lurie graduated from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2024 with degrees in humanities and communications, and she worked as a dog trainer at Bite Club K9 in Monterey, according to her Facebook and LinkedIn pages. She attended Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park, graduating in 2019, according to her LinkedIn page.

“We love you and the sunshine that surrounded you, and now lights the heavens,” one commenter wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday.

Vicencio garnered headlines for violence in 2019 after he was arrested and charged with shooting at the San Jose State University library and a parking garage. He was convicted and given probation — prosecutors asked for a nine-year prison term — and eventually got the conviction expunged, according to Rosen and court records. Vicencio’s criminal history in the county outlines struggles with mental health, and legal trouble over gun possession; he was supervised under the court’s mental-health treatment division for much of 2022.

Rosen said his office had long recognized Vicencio as a dangerous person after the library shooting, but that it was “impossible to predict that someone who did something that dangerous and that violent in 2019 would then murder three individuals.”

In a 2024 Reddit post, Vicencio sought advice from fellow San Jose residents after struggling to get a job while on parole, in which he described being turned down for work “because my last crime is violent (assault with a semi-automatic firearm).” When another Reddit user identified his connection to the library shooting, he responded, “Yup that’s me. Wasn’t on purpose but yeah,” followed by him writing, “Thank you for recognizing I have taken accountability.”

Anyone with information about Tuesday’s fatal shootings can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sgt. Richard Martinez at 3934@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Christina Jize at 4324@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/19/no-loose-ends-san-jose-triple-homicide-stemmed-from-domestic-violence-authorities-say/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12211903