L.A. County murder suspects arrested in Palm Springs
A man accused of shooting two people at a Norwalk convenience store, killing one and wounding another, was in custody Tuesday following his arrest in Palm Springs.
Nakia Deshone Smith, 20, was arrested along with a girl described only as a juvenile in Palm Springs Monday afternoon on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
The pair were arrested around 2:30 p.m. Monday at a home on Alta Cresta in connection with the Saturday night shooting at an AM/PM convenience store in the 10600 block of Imperial Highway, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza.
At about 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Smith allegedly got into an argument and fistfight with 43-year-old Geronimo Gutierrez inside the store, then walked outside to his car, retrieved a gun and opened fire, hitting Gutierrez and an unidentified 37-year-old woman, Mendoza said.
Gutierrez and the woman were taken to a hospital with gunshots to their upper bodies. Gutierrez was pronounced dead at the hospital on Sunday, but Mendoza said the woman is expected to survive.
Smith and the juvenile got into his car after the shooting and left the scene, Mendoza said, but they were identified and tracked to Palm Springs. He said “evidence” was located during their arrest, but Mendoza declined to say if that evidence included the murder weapon.
Mendoza also declined to elaborate on why Smith was in Palm Springs and how deputies tracked him to the desert.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were assisted by Palm Springs police in apprehending Smith, who was being held without bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
