O.C. drive-by shooting suspect accused of killing boy, injuring another who peeked out a window

A Santa Ana man faces the potential of life in prison after Orange County prosecutors say he shot at two 13-year-old boys in Santa Ana from his car, killing one of them, and wounded another teenager as the boy stood inside his own kitchen.

Raymond Mario Jimenez, 27, was charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the June 5 drive-by shooting on Pine Street in Santa Ana, Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer’s office said in a news release on Monday.

The two 13-year-old boys were running toward their apartment building on Bishop Avenue around 12:15 p.m., minutes after some type of confrontation, when Jimenez drove up, stopped and shot at them from his vehicle, prosecutors said. Daniel Vargas, 13, was fatally shot in the head. A second victim, a 16-year-old boy who authorities say heard the gunfire and looked out of his kitchen window, was also shot in the head but survived.

The shooting unfolded near an elementary school and forced the school to go on lockdown, according to prosecutors.

Police found Daniel lying wounded on the ground near a sidewalk. The other 13-year-old boy was found in the area, uninjured, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

The 16-year-old was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition, prosecutors said. Daniel was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center, where he died two days after the shooting.

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Homicide investigators arrested and booked Jimenez the same day Daniel died. He was charged on June 11 with murder, attempted murder, shooting into an inhabited dwelling, and six felony enhancements related to shooting a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Jimenez is scheduled to be arraigned July 10.

A GoFundMe page set up to assist Daniel’s family with funeral expenses said people knew him for “his passion for soccer and his excitement about starting high school.”

He recently graduated from Mendez Fundamental Intermediate School in Santa Ana, according to the post.

Prosecutors did not reveal a motive behind the drive-by shooting, but the Santa Ana Police Department said any tips connected to the case are eligible for a department reward program.

Anyone with information on the shooting can call the Santa Ana Police Department’s homicide detectives at (714) 245-8390 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227.