A 21-year-old Santa Ana man was charged Tuesday with fatally shooting another man in the city of Orange.
Joseph Andrew Ruelas was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a firearm causing death, according to court records.
Ruelas made his first appearance in court Tuesday and was ordered to return for arraignment on Dec. 16 in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana. Ruelas was being held on $1 million bail.
Police were called just after midnight Sunday to the 2000 block of East Fairway Drive regarding some sort of a disturbance, and when officers arrived they found the victim on the sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound, police said.
The victim — 39-year-old Michael Tovar of Anaheim — was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police arrested Ruelas about 4 p.m. Sunday.
It’s not clear what relationship the two had, but they were previously acquainted, Orange police Sgt. Phil McMullin said. Detectives were also still working to determine what motivated the shooting.