Two of four men accused in the gang-related shooting death of an Indio man were charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Jonathan Rio Franco and Zachary Ashton Hamrick, both 19, allegedly perpetrated the roadside shooting Thursday in the 83000 block of Quail Avenue, near Calhoun Street.
Along with murder, both men were charged with two counts of attempted murder, a special circumstance allegation of committing a murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Hamrick alone is charged with felony evading.
He alone was arraigned and pleaded not guilty Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Dec. 8 at the Larson Justice Center.
Hamrick is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
Franco is tentatively due to be arraigned Wednesday before Benjamini. The defendant was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, also at the Indio jail.
A third individual, 20-year-old Christian Espinoza of Palm Springs, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, but he posted a $10,000 bond and was released the following day.
A fourth person, 20-year-old George Anthony Diaz of Desert Hot Springs, was arrested with the other three, but jail records indicated that he was released on his own recognizance. It was unclear whether prosecutors may yet file a complaint against him, or determined that no charges were valid.
According to the Indio Police Department, shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, the victim, identified only as a 33-year-old Indio man, was with another man, standing outside a residence on Quail Avenue when a white Honda CR-V stopped near the driveway, and the occupants called the victim over to the SUV.
When the man and his friend approached, “gunshots were fired from within the vehicle,” IPD Sgt. Abe Plata said.
He said the victim’s friend and three children watching nearby bolted for cover and were not struck by the gunfire.
The Honda sped away.
Paramedics reached the location within a few minutes and pronounced the wounded man dead at the scene.
Alerts were broadcast to surrounding agencies with descriptions of the Honda, and roughly an hour later, it was located by Palm Springs police officers on Belarado Road, where Espinoza was allegedly spotted “entering and exiting the vehicle,” discarding a backpack, Plata alleged.
He said the young man was detained without incident, and the backpack was confirmed to “contain two handguns.”
The ensuing investigation culminated in the other parties being identified as alleged perpetrators, according to the sergeant. He said when Desert Hot Springs police personnel attempted to conduct a vehicle stop on Hamrick near his home late Thursday afternoon, the defendant allegedly fled.
However, Hamrick’s car “stalled” during the chase on Bubbling Wells Road, and he and Diaz allegedly bailed out on foot and tried to run away but were quickly apprehended without further incident, Plata said.
Franco was the last to be taken into custody on Sunday night in Banning.
Details regarding how detectives pieced together the events, tying the men to the shooting, were not disclosed.
Background information on the men was unavailable.