Double murder charges were filed Friday against a 23-year-old man accused of gunning down two young women sitting in a car parked on the west end of Riverside.
Daniel Garcia of Riverside was arrested immediately after the attack Tuesday that took the lives of 21-year-old Gabriela Perez of Hemet and 20-year-old Miranda Duran of Riverside.
Along with the murder counts, Garcia is charged with a special circumstance allegation of taking multiple lives, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The defendant is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and is slated to make his initial court appearance Friday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, the women were shot just after midnight near the intersection of Alhambra and Cypress avenues, in the La Sierra Hills area.
Railsback said a woman called 911stating that her brother had “just shot two people,” after which patrol officers converged on the location.
They found the victims in a parked gray Volkswagen, suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers immediately detained Garcia, who was allegedly found in possession of a handgun, Railsback said.
He did not disclose a possible motive for the killings, or whether Garcia knew the victims, both of whom were pronounced dead at the scene — one in the driver’s seat, and the other in the front passenger seat.
Garcia has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
The special circumstance allegation will make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted, provided the District Attorney’s Office decides to pursue capital punishment.