2 suspects arrested in California "cartel-style execution" that killed 6 people, including a baby
Two suspects in the massacre of six people last month in central California were arrested early Friday, one after a gunbattle, authorities said. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the suspects are a 25-year-old man who was taken into custody without incident and a 35-year-old man who was wounded in the shootout with federal agents and was undergoing surgery.
The 35-year-old suspect, Angel "Nanu" Uriarte, was in stable condition and expected to survive, Boudreaux said at a news conference at the sheriff's headquarters in Visalia. The 25-year-old suspect was identified as Noah David Beard.
"I'm happy we were able to put these two men behind bars," the sheriff said.
The suspects and members of the victims' family have a long history of gang violence but the motive for the shooting "is not exactly clear," Boudreaux said.
The six victims, including a teen mother and her baby, were gunned down on Jan. 16 in rural Goshen, a community of 3,000 in the San Joaquin Valley. The killings — which Boudreaux previously called a "cartel-style execution" — prompted authorities to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers. On Monday, they increased the reward to more than $20,000.
The Tulare County district attorney's office charged both suspects with six counts of murder and other crimes.
Both suspects had been under around-the-clock surveillance since Jan. 23, Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux said the arrests stemmed from "Operation Nightmare" in which multiple search warrants were served and inmate cells associated with a prison gang were searched in multiple state prisons.
The victims were identified as: Rosa Parraz, 72; Eladio Parraz Jr., 52; Jennifer Analla, 49; Marcos Parraz, 19; Alissa Parraz, 16; and Nycholas Parraz, 10 months.
A surveillance video released by authorities Friday showed a teenage girl running outside and placing a baby on the other side of a fence, then jumping over it herself. Authorities said Beard shot and killed the teen and baby. They were both found dead in the street, shot in the back of the head, authorities said.
Among the adult victims was a woman who was found kneeling and shot in the head, authorities said.
The sheriff has said Alissa Parraz had just been awarded full custody of her son after he spent months in the foster care system. The two were reunited on Jan. 13 — three days before they were killed.
The Goshen killings affected residents in the area, Boudreaux said. He spoke about being stopped at a store by people who wanted to talk about the shooting.
"The deaths in this case really is heartbreaking," Boudreaux said.
The shooting was part of a violent and deadly month in California.
On Jan. 21, a shooting at a Monterey Park dance hall killed 11 and wounded nine. The gunman later killed himself. On Jan. 23, shootings at two Half Moon Bay farms killed seven people and wounded one before a suspect was arrested.