A man and woman accused of gunning down a 47-year-old Corona resident during a premeditated gang-related attack in Home Gardens were charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Hector Saldana, 47, and Rachel Denise Arredondo, 43, both of Corona, were arrested Friday following a weeks-long Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the slaying of Carlos Villa.
Along with murder, the two defendants are charged with special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing for the benefit of a criminal street gang, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
They were slated to make a joint initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Both are being held without bail — Arredondo at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, and Saldana at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s investigators, the attack happened sometime after 11 p.m. on May 18 in the 3000 block of Grant Street, near Indiana Avenue, along the municipal boundary separating Home Gardens and Corona.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Alberto Loureiro said patrol deputies were called to the house to investigate reports of “an unresponsive male” and found Villa suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Life-saving measures were attempted, but paramedics ultimately pronounced the man deceased at the scene,” Loureiro said.
Central Homicide Unit detectives took over the investigation and spent the ensuing weeks developing leads that ultimately pointed to the defendants as the alleged perpetrators.
It was unclear whether the victim had any gang affiliations. Court records did not show documented prior felony convictions associated with Arredondo or Saldana in Riverside County.