Homicide in Vista 

November 2, 2023 – San Diego County Sheriff’s Department officials report that on October 27, 2023, at around 8:00 p.m., deputies received a radio call of a house fire in the 100 block of Palmyra Drive in the city of Vista. The residence was occupied by multiple people. Deputies and Fire Department personnel arrived on scene and began evacuations and extinguishing the fire. A deputy located a person matching the suspect's description walking nearby. The suspect was detained without incident.

Deputies and Fire Department personnel learned one of the residents was missing. Fire department personnel entered the residence, but due to the flames and heat were unable to locate the resident. Once the fire was contained, Fire Department personnel went back inside the residence and located a body deceased inside a bedroom. The victim has not been positively identified at this time.

With the assistance of Bomb & Arson detectives and a fire specialist from Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), Homicide detectives collected evidence suggesting the fire was intentionally set and the behavior of the fire was indicative of arson.

The suspect was later identified as 50-year-old Gregory Triana Villegas. Villegas was charged with one count of 187(a) PC - Murder and one count of 451(a) PC - Arson. He was transported and booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

At this stage of the investigation, the motivation and circumstances of the crime are still under investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200.  You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Source: San Diego County Sheriff’s Department