By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Tenino mother of three wore a bullet-proof vest in court on Tuesday in Chehalis when she was charged with drive-by shooting.
Christina Palomares, 24, was arrested early Saturday morning shortly after the incident in a Chehalis neighborhood.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Palomares was driving a red Chevrolet Blazer when one of three male passengers stuck a pistol out the window and fired a round that missed several people standing outside but struck an unoccupied parked vehicle. It happened about 12:15 a.m. on Saturday at the 400 block of Southwest William Street.
Authorities describe the shooting as related to a debt owed to somebody called “Candy man” and perpetrated by the LVL gang.
“I’m very concerned about my client’s well being right now,” defense attorney Bob Schroeter said following the brief hearing in in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Judge Nelson Hunt ordered her held on $250,000 bail.
Court papers describe several stories that Palomares told police detectives after she was picked up in Thurston County; each version slightly different.
In one interview, Palomares said a passenger told her husband to “shoot them or he would kill her (Christina) and he would not become an LVL,” charging papers allege.
LVL stands for Little Valley Locos or Little Valley Lokotes a gang locally made up mostly of individuals who grew up in Centralia when it was particularly active in the summer of 2007.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office planned to issue warrants today for the arrests of others they believe are involved. Witnesses implicate two different men as the shooter.
Chehalis police describe those at the house as reluctant to give information out of fear of retaliation. A .45 caliber shell casing was found at the scene.
According to charging documents, one man who thinks he might have been a target was arrested last month in connection with drug dealing and the LVL gang had taken over his business while he was in custody.
Chehalis police officers, along with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team executed a search warrant at the home where Palomares lives with her husband on the 200 block of 171st Avenue Southeast in Tenino on Monday evening. They didn’t find the gun they were looking for or any of the suspects, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
The did find indications Palomares’s husband had gathered up his clothes and fled. They also found a bullet proof vest, a pistol box with bullets inside, a shoulder holster and some other ammunition, according to charging documents.
Chehalis police this morning reported that he turned himself in to the jail. Ruben Palomares, 25, was booked about 7 p.m. last night, according to the Lewis County Jail inmate booking roster.
A half dozen individuals who described themselves as family and friends of Christina Palomares were in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
Defense attorney Schroeter requested Christina Palomares be held on $20,000 bail. He said she has children and a stable job; she has worked at the AM/PM in Rochester for the past three years.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Scott argued for $500,000 bail. Christina Palomares has a juvenile drug conviction and two misdemeanor assaults in her past, according to attorneys.
Drive-by shooting is a class B felony, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. She was initially arrested for first-degree assault, a crime with a possible penalty of life in prison.
She is scheduled to return to Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday morning to make her plea.
Chehalis police this morning are asking anyone with any information on the whereabouts of the remaining two suspects to call them or call Lewis County CrimeStoppers.
They are: Andrew Morales Loberg, 19, of Chehalis; and Juan Valentino Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover”, 24, of Centralia.
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This news story was updated at 11:55 a.m.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter