2 arrested, 1 fatally shot by police as authorities nab suspects in Riverside double homicide

Police from Riverside fanned out across the state this week to arrest three people in connection with a double homicide last year, and one of the suspects was fatally shot by authorities in Fresno County.

Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department as well as the U.S. Marshals Service arrived at a Coalinga home early Wednesday and used a loudspeaker to summon those inside, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said.

A man with a gun, later identified as Anthony Lovell Eddington II, left the home and began shooting, sparking a gun battle with authorities.

Eddington, 24, was one of three suspects in the Oct. 23, 2015, slaying of two Guatemalan immigrants in Riverside, more than 250 miles south of Coalinga.

Also Wednesday morning, authorities arrested Antoine Deshawn James, 39, in Bakersfield, according to the Riverside Police Department. Abiance Linece Turner, 25, was arrested in San Diego County. Both were booked on a count of murder each, police said.

In the Riverside homicides, the two victims — Juan Bartolo, 45, and Domingo Esteban, 26 — were ambushed while walking near 7^th Street and Kansas Avenue in the eastside area of Riverside, police said. A third man was injured in the shooting.

Riverside police Sgt. Bill McCoy told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that the three were shot because they were Latino. None was in a gang, police said.

“These arrests ... will help start the closure process for the victims’ families and they represent our community members’ rejection of criminal activity and violence in our neighborhoods,” Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said in announcing the arrests.

After Wednesday’s shooting in Coalinga, authorities searched the gunman’s home and interviewed three other adults and two children who were inside during the gunfire. None of them was injured, and authorities did not say whether any arrests were made.

Police also searched six locations in Riverside, Apple Valley and Moreno Valley, during which two people unrelated to the homicides were arrested.

T.W. Smith, 34, was booked on suspicion of weapons violations. Richard Stuckey, 30, was booked on suspicion of weapons and parole violations.

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Twitter: @MattHjourno.

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UPDATES:

Dec. 22, 6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the investigation into a Riverside double-homicide investigation.

This article was originally published at 10:00 p.m. on Dec. 21.