Photo: Stock Image
Image of Suspects from left to right: Noe Soria Bedolla, Irvin Yair Gabino, and Armando Fuentes Chagolla
It was late on the night of October 20, 2022 when 33-year-old Santa Maria resident Adelberto Moises Gabino was driving his Honda Civic through an intersection in his hometown when it suddenly veered off the street and crashed into a commercial building and came to a grinding halt.
The report of the accident immediately brough Santa Maria Police Department patrol unit to the scene. According to SMPD Detective Bureau spokesman Lt. Daniel Rios , the investigation at the scene led to a grim discovery: Gabino “had suffered multiple gunshots to the head.”
It took more than eight months of dogged investigation into the shooting, but on the early morning of July 21st , SMPD detectives and SWAT units served search and arrest warrants at a Santa Maria residence where contact was made with 19-year-old Armando Fuentes Chagolla. He was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was charged with felony vandalism, being a documented gang member in possession of a firearm, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.
It was during the immediately ensuing investigation and interviews with Chagolla that “developed information that led to arrest warrants” for 19-year-old Irvin Yair Gabino (no relation so the aforementioned murder victim), and 19-year-old Noe Soria Bedolla, both of whom were already in custody on other criminal charges. Both Gabino and Bedolla were arrested on the new murder charge.
All three suspects remain in custody with their bail swet at $2 million each.
