Visalia Police officers were called to a residence on the 1500 block of South Thomas Court on May 26, 2020 for suspicious activity. Upon arriving, they found the body of Heather Sloan. A later authored prosecutor’s complaint would detail Heather was gruesomely killed with a barbecue fork.
Detectives of the Violent Crimes Unit identified 30-year old Barry Dantzler as a suspect. Dantzler and Heather were acquaintances and while a motive has not yet been released it is believe Heather was killed as Dantzler committed the crimes of burglary and robbery.
Barry Dantzler
On May 29, 2020, Dantzler led Visalia special enforcement officers on a short pursuit in the city of Tulare. He lost control of his vehicle and struck Heather Maciel who was riding her bike. She was fatally injured.
As of the time of this writing, Dantzler is in custody at the Tulare County Adult Pre-Trial Facility. He was booked for murder, hit and run causing injury, evading an officer, battery, receiving stolen property, and a felony parole violation. His bail is set at $215,000.
As detectives continued their investigation, they discovered a second suspect, 26-year old Adam Hernandez. Hernandez was arrested on June 3, 2020 by the Tulare Police Department. He is in custody at the Bob Wiley Detention Facility for murder, second degree robbery, and custodial institutional burglary. His bail is set at $110,000.
Photos from the Visalia Police Department
