Fresno County jury returns verdict in 2019 dating app murder and robbery scheme
Isaac Ty Helms, 22, of Sioux City, Iowa was found guilty Tuesday of murder and second-degree robbery for the 2019 death of 20-year-old Tyrel Truss.
Helms reacted with little emotion as the judicial assistant read the jury’s verdict in Judge Brian Alvarez’s courtroom. Helms will be sentenced on June 27 in Department 50. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Helms and three co-defendants — Precious Green, 22, of Sioux City; Hannah Haywood, 22, also of Sioux City; and Alexa Ramos, 23, of Firebaugh — were all charged with murder and robbery involving Truss.
But only Helms would be tried for murder. The three women accepted plea deals with the Fresno County District Attorney’s office. Prosecutors dropped the murder charge in exchange for their testimony against their friend Helms. The second-degree robbery charge remained.
During the 10-day trial, Ramos told prosecutor Daniel Walters she didn’t want to be in court.
“No one wants to do this,” she said previously. “Nobody wakes up and says, ‘I want to see my friends go down.’ I am here because I need to be here.”
Fresno County Sheriff’s investigators said the three Iowa friends came to California to drop Haywood off in Firebaugh. She was planning on living with Ramos and the two were going to attend school and become medical assistants.
The plan never happened. A few days before Truss’ murder the friends were involved in a serious roll-over car crash and fled the scene. They were now without a car and running low on cash. And they also feared that police were looking for them.
While visiting Ramos’ grandmother’s home, Green and Helms hatched a plan for a quick way to make money. Ramos testified that they would use a dating app to lure someone to the west side and rob them.
Truss replied to the app and drove to Mendota to meet his alleged date. When he arrived, Ramos said, Green asked him to give them a ride to Firebaugh, and he did.
As they neared their destination, Helms used a .22 caliber stolen handgun to try and rob Truss, who refused to give them anything. He also threatened to kill his would-be robbers. As the situation escalated, Helms shot Truss from the backseat. Helms’ attorney, Michael Aed, argued it was in self-defense.
