BLYTHE, CA — One of two men accused of opening fire on a motorist passing through an intersection west of Blythe pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and other charges.
Demilo Keith Garner, 23, of Corona was arrested last week following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the attack in early July.
Along with attempted murder, Garner is charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm, shooting at an occupied vehicle and a sentence-enhancing gun use allegation.
He was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Mickie Reed, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Aug. 18 at the Blythe Courthouse.
Garner is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Blythe Jail.
His co-defendant, 19-year-old Erico Jeremiah Ramirez of Blythe, was arrested on July 11 and arraigned on charges identical to Garner's. Ramirez pleaded not guilty and is due back in court for a bail review hearing, also on Aug. 18.
According to sheriff's investigators, the alleged attack happened just after 2 a.m. on July 1 at Neighbours Boulevard and Seeley Avenue, in the unincorporated community of Ripley, which is located along the western boundary of the Blythe city limits.
Sgt. Kent Eckenrode said a man, whose identity was not released, was driving through the area and came under fire but sped away unscathed.
A possible motive wasn't disclosed.
Detectives gathered unspecified evidence that soon pointed to Ramirez as one of the alleged shooters. He was tracked to Ehrenberg, Arizona, where law enforcement personnel there arrested him based on the Riverside County warrant. He was briefly jailed in La Paz County before being extradited to California.
He's being held on $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.
As the investigation continued, detectives identified Garner as the alleged second gunman. He was located and taken into custody without incident on Lovekin Boulevard in Blythe on Aug. 3.
No other details were provided.
Court records indicated Garner has a prior conviction, but it was unclear for what. Ramirez has no documented priors.
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