Two felons accused in a gunfight outside an Indio home that wounded a mother and her 5-year-old child were charged Friday with firearm assault and other offenses.
Jesus Delarosa, 25, and Ricardo Mercado, 29, both of Indio, were arrested Tuesday following an Indio Police Department investigation.
Along with the gun assault count, each defendant is charged with being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and sentence-enhancing parole or probation violations. Delarosa alone is additionally charged with child endangerment.
The pair were slated to make a joint initial court appearance Friday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Both are being held without bail — Delarosa at the Benoit Detention Center, Mercado at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to Indio police, shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, the victims, identified only as a 30-year-old Coachella Valley woman and her 5-year-old son, were riding with Delarosa when he parked his pickup in front of a property in the 82-000 block of Mountain View Avenue, near Monroe Street, where Mercado was waiting to meet him.
At some point during the meeting, another man, whose identity was not disclosed, drove up and elicited a hostile reaction from Delarosa, Sgt. Abe Plata said.
He said that “an altercation ensued,” during which Delarosa allegedly drew a handgun and opened fire, wounding the man.
“During this confrontation, Mercado fired multiple rounds at the pickup truck occupied by Delarosa, the mother and her child,” Plata said. “Both the mother and child sustained gunshot wounds.”
Delarosa, who wasn’t hit, floored his pickup and fled the location, stopping moments later in the 43-700 block of Deglet Noor Street to seek help for his wounded passengers, according to the sergeant.
The boy, whose injuries Plata described as severe, was ultimately airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment. He was stable as of Wednesday night.
The mom was taken to JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio and was also stable. The man whom Delarosa allegedly shot drove himself to JFK for treatment but was soon after transferred to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, hospitalized with a non-life-threatening wound, Plata said.
“He was uncooperative with investigators,” the police spokesman said.
A possible motive for the gunfight wasn’t provided. It was unclear how the parties were connected.
Delarosa was taken into custody without incident on North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs at the conclusion of the IPD investigation Tuesday night. Mercado was taken into custody around the same time after a search warrant was served at his Mountain View residence.
Delarosa’s and Mercado’s prior felony convictions weren’t listed in court records.