Fresno Judge Hands Iowa Man a Life Sentence for 2019 Murder

Isaac Ty Helms thought they had cooked up a good scheme to make money.  His female friends would agree to dates with men and then he’d rob them.

However, that scheme turned into murder in Firebaugh, and Helms — who shot the victim in the back with a stolen .22 caliber handgun — will now begin a life sentence in prison.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Brian Alvarez sentenced Helms, 22, on Tuesday. Helms, who is from Sioux City, Iowa, was convicted of first-degree murder in April following a 12-day trial, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

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Helms murdered Tyrel Truss,20, on Sept. 26, 2019. Initially, officers thought they would be responding to a traffic accident. But they found Truss — who had agreed to give Helms and his female accomplices a ride from Mendota to Firebaugh — unconscious and hanging out the vehicle’s door. He died at the scene.

Witnesses told authorities they saw four people flee from the area. Firebaugh police officers and Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies tracked them down.

Clockwise from top left: Isaac Ty Helms, Alexa Ramos, Precious Green, and Hannah Haywood. (Fresno County SO)

ABC30 reported in April that two of Helms’ accomplices, Alexa Ramos and Hannah Haywood, received two-year prison sentences. A third accomplice, Precious Green, received four years in prison because of a firearm enhancement.

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Fresno County Sheriff’s investigators testified that the Helms, Haywood, and Green came to California from Iowa to drop Haywood off in Firebaugh. She planned to live with Ramos while they went to school to become medical assistants.