A felon who shot at two men in a Moreno Valley strip mall was sentenced Wednesday to five years in state prison.
Michael Nikita Diggins II, 43, of Moreno Valley, pleaded guilty last week to shooting at an occupied building. As part of his plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, three related felony charges against him were dismissed.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. James Merrill, early on the morning of July 13, patrol deputies were alerted to gunshots behind a strip mall near the intersection of Iris Avenue and Lasselle Street, prompting an investigation.
Merrill said the deputies “located evidence of a shooting” near two businesses, but the gunman was nowhere in sight, and no one was injured.
“Witnesses reported a vehicle stopped in the street near a bus stop, and (the driver) started firing a handgun,” the sergeant said.
Court documents identified two men who were targeted by Diggins, referenced as “R.R.” and John Doe.
A possible motive was not disclosed.
Detectives soon developed leads pointing to the defendant as the shooter, culminating in an arrest warrant being served on him at a property on Badger Springs Trail, where he was taken into custody without incident a few hours later, Merrill said.
Court records show he has prior convictions out of Los Angeles County, but they weren’t specified.