Morongo Triple-Shooting Suspect Charged: Murder, Attempted Murder

BANNING, CA – A man who allegedly shot three people on the Morongo Indian Reservation last week -- killing one of them -- was charged Tuesday with murder and attempted murder.

Adrien Sotomayor, 31, is accused of killing 55-year-old Gilbert Trevino of Beaumont and wounding two other men last Wednesday night.

Sheriff's deputies were sent around 11 p.m. to the area of Ramon and Chino roads, where the gunshot victims were found, according to sheriff's Sgt. Steve Brosche.

Trevino died at a hospital, according to Brosche. One of the surviving victims was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while the other was released with minor injuries less than a day later, Brosche said.

Sotomayor, who's being held on $2.07 million bail at the Larry Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and multiple sentence enhancing allegations of discharging a firearm. He will return to the Banning courthouse Jan. 25 for a felony settlement conference.

Neither Sotomayor nor the victims are tribal members or residents of Morongo, according to Brosche.

Deputies have not disclosed a motive for the shooting, nor Sotomayor's relationship, if any, to the victims.

Sotomayor was previously charged with murder a decade ago in San Bernardino County in connection with the 2008 beating death of Cherry Valley resident Grant Dodder at the Angel's Roadhouse Bar & Grill in Yucaipa.

Sotomayor and co-defendant James Hiles, 31, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2010.

Sotomayor was sentenced to three years in state prison, according to San Bernardino County court records, and Hiles got a five-year term and has since been arrested for allegedly breaking into a 74-year-old Mentone woman's home and raping her last year.

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--City News Service/Image via Riverside County Sheriff