Crime & Safety

Arrest Announced In Fatal Coachella Shooting

Formal charges have been filed against Andrew Quintana Martinez​ and he was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Andrew Quintana Martinez​
Andrew Quintana Martinez​ (Riverside County Sheriff's Dept.)

COACHELLA, CA — A suspect sought in the fatal shooting of a Coachella is behind bars, the sheriff's department announced Tuesday.

Andrew Quintana Martinez, 22, of Coachella was taken into custody by Coachella police Thursday night in Indio, according to jail records. He was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held at Murrieta's Southwest Detention Center in lieu of $1 million bail, the jail records showed.

Formal charges were filed against Quintana Martinez and he was arraigned Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty to one felony murder count and two felony counts of assault with a gun.

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He is slated to appear at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on June 14, when the court will decide whether there is enough evidence to move forward with a trial.

Quintana Martinez is suspected in the killing of 32-year-old Jose A. Molina of Coachella.

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According to the sheriff's department, deputies responded to a report of a shooting at 12:17 a.m. Thursday in the 85000 block of Cairo Avenue in Coachella.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Molina suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Details about a motive and what led investigators to Quintana Martinez were not provided by law enforcement officials.

Quintana Martinez has four other active cases for charges including battery, kidnapping and being in possession of a firearm, according to court records.

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