No bail for gang member accused of shooting girlfriend twice

There is no bail for a Coachella gang member accused of shooting two people in Indio in a crime spree that spanned three weeks.

It’s a case that’s drawn the attention of the district attorney, who called the release of 25-year-old Lawrence Moreno between the alleged shootings, “A failure of the system.”

Moreno appeared in court Wednesday afternoon for his arraignment on the most recent of the two shootings.

Through a public defender Moreno, also known as “Little Chubs,” entered a plea of not guilty.

He was charged with two counts of attempted murder, plus burglary, witness intimidation and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the Aug. 12th shooting. Moreno is also facing nine sentence-enhancing allegations.

The 25-year-old will undergo a mental heath evaluation at the request of the defense.

Indio police said Moreno, while out on bond, shot his 20-year-old girlfriend last week outside her home at the Casa Las Valles condos in Indio.

That shooting came after another one last month. Police allege Moreno shot the same 20-year-old woman in the leg in that incident.

During the time of each shooting, Moreno was wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, and police said he cut it off afterwards.

Moreno’s family hired defense attorney Tony DeAztlan. He told us he will be taking Moreno’s case if turns into a murder case. He said Moreno’s girlfriend remains in critical condition.

We’ve learned through Moreno’s charges she may be comatose because of a brain injury or she’s possibly paralyzed. We do not know her exact condition.

We’ve also learned that after the first shooting Moreno, who was already on parole, was able to post bail with $1,000 through a bail bondsman, even though his bail was set at $100,000.

On Monday Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Moreno should have not been allowed bail.

“He should not have been free. This is an individual that had a lengthy criminal history that was on parole and committed a new crime, that is the very definition of someone who should be in custody. So, I’m going to look into this and find out what went wrong. A lot of different agencies are involved, including our own, and we are going to take a hard look and find out what failed,” said Hestrin.

A question still remains, was it an isolated incident or is this a systematic problem? We are still digging for answers.

The two cases are expected to be combined at his next court appearance in September.

In the meantime Moreno is being held in the Indio Jail without bail.