Suspects Charged In OC Drive-By Shooting Where Innocent Mother Was Killed

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A 24-year-old woman accused of being behind the wheel in a fatal drive-by shooting that killed an innocent bystander in Santa Ana was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, while her 19-year-old accomplice will go to court early next month to face a murder charge.

Brooke Victoria De La Cruz, of Orange, was charged Monday with two counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and a count of being an accessory after the fact — all felonies — in the death of a mother of three who was not the intended target.

She also faces sentencing enhancements for gang activity, court records show. She was due in court Tuesday at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

Her accused accomplice, Orange resident Mark Remmers, was charged Monday with murder with a special circumstance allegation of gang activity.

Remmers was also charged with two counts of attempted murder and faces sentencing enhancements for discharge of a gun causing death, gang activity, committing a crime while out on custody in another case and attempted premeditated murder. He was scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 5, court records show.

Remmers is the accused gunman, while De La Cruz was allegedly behind the wheel of the car used in the attack, according to Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin.

The victim was identified as Maria Del Rufugio Mora of Santa Ana, a mother of three children, authorities said.

Police were sent to a parking lot at 1473 S. Main St. in Santa Ana at about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 4. They found Mora injured with a gunshot wound to the upper half of her body, and paramedics took her to a hospital in "critical condition." She died as a result of her injuries on Dec. 9.

The Santa Ana Police Department said that two teenage boys were being shot at by people in a white-colored sedan. The two teens ran into a parking lot as they were being fired upon, and Mora was struck by a bullet. The two boys were not injured, authorities said.

"The circumstances surrounding this shooting are currently being investigated, however detectives believe the motive could be gang-related," police said.

Investigators used surveillance video and witness interviews to identify the sedan as a white Toyota Camry, leading to the arrest of Mark Remmers, 19, and Brooke De La Cruz, 24, on Sunday, authorities said.

Remmers and De La Cruz were taken into custody Thursday. Remmers was arrested in the 2100 block of Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa and De La Cruz was arrested in the 500 block of South Hill Street in Orange. The Camry was also found, authorities said.

City News Service contributed to this report.