A La Quinta man suspected of fatally shooting a 27-year-old man during a 2002 house party in La Quinta was behind bars Monday following a decades-long cold case investigation.
Alex Anthony Uribe, 46, was arrested Friday and booked into the Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of murder, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
On Aug. 11, 2002, deputies responded to a report of a collision near the intersection of Avenida Mendoza and Calle Durango at about 4:15 a.m. They found a motorist inside a vehicle who had sustained gunshot wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The agency said an altercation occurred at a house party in the 52200 block of Avenida Mendoza, and Hernan Marquez of Indio was shot as he was leaving the residence, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop.
Bishop said Marquez drove away from the area “at a high rate of speed, eventually losing control of his vehicle and colliding with several parked vehicles.”
After a lengthy investigation, no arrests were made and the case went cold for more than 20 years. It was reopened after investigators “identified several potential leads and follow-up tasks, aided by advancements in forensic testing,” Bishop said.
Uribe was identified as the sole suspect in the shooting, with assistance from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Gang Impact Team.
The investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with additional information was asked to call 951-955-2777.