Man Suspected In Indio Shooting Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Counts

INDIO (CNS) – A man suspected of shooting at a home in Indio in an allegedly gang-related retaliatory attack involving several teenagers pleaded not guilty to felony charges Monday.

Noe Montes, 23, is facing six felony counts of attempted murder along with Ethen Adam Sinohuiz, 18, and 19-year-olds Jose David Baltierra, Samuel Jacob Galvan and Jonathan Peter Garcia for allegedly shooting at a home on Jan. 18, in retaliation for a shooting at a separate residence the day prior, according to court records.

Sinohuiz faces an additional felony count for the attempted murder of a sixth co-defendant, Malachi "Mala" Hernandez, who was charged with one felony count for the attempted murder of Sinohuiz from the shooting the day prior.

Each defendant also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of being associated with a criminal street gang and using a firearm, according to court records. Sinohuiz, Baltierra, Galvan and Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the allegations last week.

Montes pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations Monday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Hernandez is expected to be arraigned Tuesday.

According to a declaration in support of arrest warrant for Montes filed by Indio Police officer B. Traynham, the first shooting was reported about 10 p.m. Jan. 17 at a home on El Paseo in Indio, where Sinohuiz lives.

It’s alleged that Sinohuiz and Hernandez had been challenging each other on social media for several months before the shooting that night, when Sinohuiz told Malachi to go to his home to "shoot it out," according to Traynham. After the shooting, Sinohuiz allegedly texted Hernandez that "he’s disappointed in him and he can’t aim."

Sinohuiz then allegedly texted various other people that he was almost killed by Hernandez in a shootout and proceeded to send Hernandez’s address to Montes, who said he would "take care of it," Traynham alleged. Shortly after, at around midnight the following day, Hernandez’s home in Tracy Circle was shot at while six people were inside.

An investigation was assumed and by late-March the Indio Police Department’s Street Crimes and Major Crimes Units served several search warrants in Thermal, Coachella, La Quinta and Indio in connection with the shootings, according to the Indio Police Department. Sinohuiz, Baltierra, Galvan and Garcia were taken in to custody last week after the searches, where eight firearms and more than 5,000 Fentanyl pills were found.

Montes and Hernandez were subsequently arrested Sunday afternoon within hours of each other, according to inmate records. All suspects were booked into varying Riverside County Jails, where they each remain held on $1 million bail.

Anyone with additional information on the two shootings was asked to call the police department’s detective unit at 760-391-4051 or Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867(STOP).

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