News

Sketch released of Candy Cane Lane shooter

Published December 20, 2017 6:41 AM

Investigators have been searching for years for a gunman who killed a man and his unborn baby in an apparent road rage shooting in Cathedral City. Now, on the second anniversary of the shootings, police are releasing a composite sketch of the suspect.

KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 spoke with the baby’s mother, Roxanne, who survived the shooting. Roxanne says that she and David Chavez, 38, were driving near Candy Cane Lane when another driver was honking and trying to get around.

Once he did, the driver of what looked like a late 1990s dark-colored 2-door SUV, similar to a Chevy Blazer got out of the truck and started shooting.

Chavez was killed. The woman, who was eight and a half months pregnant, was shot. She was rushed to the hospital.

“In my mind, all I can think of is, ‘I hope my son stays alive because I don’t think I can survive this afterwards,'” Roxanne recalled of her emergency surgery. The baby, David Atreyu Oscar Chavez, did not survive.

Read: Candy Cane Lane shooting victim shares her story

There were three other small children in the back seat of David’s car. They weren’t hurt.

Police say witnesses reported seeing the argument between the David Chavez and the other driver.

At the time, the shooter was described as a bald Hispanic man in his 30s, 5-foot-7-inches tall and 200 pounds, with a mustache and goatee. He was last seen wearing a grey shirt and blue denim shorts while running south through the desert area near Date Palm Drive and Tortuga Road. A woman drove away in the vehicle, which had at least one child inside.

Police are now hoping that the release of the sketch will help them identify the double homicide suspect. If you know anything about the man in the composite image, you are asked to call the CCPD Tip Line at 760-202-2471 or Crime Stoppers at 760-341-7861.