An example of a person aiming a gun at a target. Photo from Pixabay.
A Desert Hot Springs man accused of committing a retaliation killing to avenge a friend’s death was ordered Friday to stand trial on a murder charge.
Orlando Archuleta, 28, is accused in the March 29, 2017, shooting death of 23-year-old Cathedral City resident Jose Gabriel Madrigal Vargas, who Archuleta apparently believed was involved in the killing of a friend two days prior, according to court papers.
Vargas’ body was found two days after 21-year-old Freddy Morales of Cathedral City was found dead in the driveway of a home at 66219 Sixth St.
According to court documents, Morales and Archuleta were friends, and Archuleta allegedly believed Vargas had a hand in Morales’ killing, though the reasons why were not disclosed.
Vargas was found about 8:30 p.m. March 29 after officers received multiple calls of shots fired and followed a blood trail to a house in the 66100 block of Sixth St, just a few houses down from where Morales’ body was found. Vargas was pronounced dead at the scene about a half-hour later.
Archuleta was hospitalized that same day with gunshot wounds, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant. Officers interviewed him and he admitted to being shot at the Sixth Street home, but said he didn’t know who shot him, the declaration states.
He was arrested about a week later, after getting out of the hospital, on a parole violation and later charged with murder.
Police believe Archuleta and others confronted Vargas at the Sixth Street home and shot him, and another person inside the home fired back at Archuleta, causing the gunshot wounds that landed him in the hospital, according to the declaration.
Archuleta, who’s being held on $1 million bail, is slated to return to court Feb. 23 for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment.
–City News Service
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