Murder suspect runs into traffic on I-5, is killed

STOCKTON - A homicide suspect confronted by police Monday morning on Interstate 5 ran into freeway traffic and was struck and killed by an oncoming big rig.

Stockton resident John Quincy Ellis, 46, stopped in front of a big rig heading north around 7 a.m. on I-5 near March Lane, according to, police who called the incident an "apparent suicide."

Ellis was the lone suspect in the slaying Sunday of a 61-year-old woman in Santa Rosa, and the investigation led detectives to Ellis in Stockton.

Police from both cities' police departments were working together Monday morning when Stockton police pulled over Ellis on southbound Interstate 5.

Ellis immediately exited the car and asked police to kill him, said Officer Pete Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department.

The suspect then ran into the southbound lanes, hopping the median into northbound traffic and getting as far as the outside lane.

Then Ellis stopped, Smith said, "allowing a big rig to strike him."

The oncoming truck did not have time to stop, and Ellis was pronounced dead at the scene, Smith said.

The fatal incident triggers an investigation by San Joaquin County's District Attorney's Office, following the same procedure as an officer-involved shooting.

California Highway Patrol controlled traffic after the incident.

Santa Rosa and Stockton police began working together earlier Monday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, Carole Marie Brooks was fatally shot in a Santa Rosa apartment, but a suspect was spotted leaving the scene in a silver-colored compact vehicle, according to police.

She was shot in the stomach at a small rental property where she ran a massage therapy business, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Homicide detectives identified the vehicle as a rental car from Stockton.

Ellis was driving the rental car when he was pulled over on I-5, said police Sgt. Lisa Banayat, a spokeswoman for the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Ellis was the only suspect in the Sunday killing, she said.

Ellis' relationship to the victim remains unknown, Banayat said.