Photo: Carl Johnson and Marius Metoyer
Two suspects have been imprisoned for the December 24th, 2018, shooting of two Riverside County men.
The December 28th arrest of Marius Metoyer and Carl Johnson, both aged 18 and of Moreno Valley, resulted from the Christmas Eve shooting at the Rio Rancho Supermall complex at 23211 Perris Blvd in Moreno Valley, during which two adult male victims sustained gunshot wounds.
One of the victims, later identified as Noe Reyes, aged 25 and also of Moreno Valley, died at 6:03pm that evening, about 40 minutes after the encounter, from his injuries received. The name of the second victim was not released.
At the time of the incident, Moreno Valley Police Department officers rapidly responded to a shots fired call from witnesses at the supermall and, upon arrival, found evidence of the shooting.
People at the scene informed the officers that two victims had received gunshot wounds and were being transported to hospital, Moreno Valley’s Riverside University Health System. Witnesses also said that they had seen several adult males running from the site.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Central Homicide Unit joined the Moreno Valley Police Department in investigating the incident. Information obtained led to the issuing of a search warrant for a location on the 900 block of East Williams Street in Banning.
At the residence in question, officials arrested without incident suspects Metoyer and Johnson for charges of first-degree murder, a special circumstance allegation of committing a murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, and use of a firearm. Officers also therein seized several firearms and related additional evidence.
Carl Johnson and Marius Metoyer were booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside for the listed charges. Johnson was later transferred to Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and Metoyer to Indio Jail. Both were being held without bail.
Reyes’ family set up a GoFundMe page to help offset his funeral expenses.
