Young Man Suspected in Indio Shooting Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder

INDIO (CNS) – A young man suspected in a shootout that authorities say led to an allegedly gang-related retaliatory attack one day later pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an attempted murder charge. Malachi "Mala" Hernandez, 19, is charged with one felony count of attempted murder stemming from a Jan. 17 late-night shootout allegedly involving Ethen Adam Sinohuiz, 18, according to court records. He additionally faces sentence-enhancing allegations of being associated with a criminal street gang and using a firearm. He pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations Tuesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Noe Montes, 23, Sinohuiz, and 19-year-olds Jose David Baltierra, Samuel Jacob Galvan and Jonathan Peter Garcia are charged with six felony counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Hernandez’s home on Jan. 18, in retaliation for the shooting the day prior, according to court records. Sinohuiz faces an additional felony charge for the attempted murder of Hernandez stemming from the Jan. 17 shootout. Each defendant also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of being associated with a criminal street gang and using a firearm, according to court records. All defendants have pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations on separate court days. No one was injured in any of the shootings. According to a declaration in support of arrest warrant for Montes filed by Indio Police officer B. Traynham, the first shooting was reported about 10 p.m. Jan. 17 at a home on El Paseo in Indio, where Sinohuiz lives. It’s alleged that Sinohuiz and Hernandez had been challenging each other on social media for several months before the shooting that night, when Sinohuiz told Hernandez to come to his home to "shoot it out," according to Traynham. After the shooting, Sinohuiz allegedly texted Hernandez that "he’s disappointed in him and he can’t aim." Sinohuiz then allegedly texted various other people that he was almost killed by Hernandez in a shootout, according to the declaration. He then sent Hernandez’s address to Montes, who said he would "take care of it," Traynham alleged. Shortly before midnight Jan. 18, shots were fired at Hernandez’s home on Tracy Circle, where six people were inside. By late-March the Indio Police Department’s Street Crimes and Major Crimes Units served several search warrants in Thermal, Coachella, La Quinta and Indio in connection with the shootings, according to the Indio Police Department. During the searches, eight firearms and more than 5,000 Fentanyl pills were found. Baltierra, Sinohuiz and Galvan were arrested March 27, Garcia was arrested March 28, Montes the following day and Hernandez the day after that, according to inmate records. They were subsequently booked into varying Riverside County Jails, where they each remain held on $1 million bail. Anyone with additional information on the two shootings was asked to call the police department’s detective unit at 760-391-4051 or Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867(STOP). Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.