Alleged Gang Members Accused of Killing Boy in Drive-by Attack Due in Court

INDIO (CNS) - Two young men accused of killing a 13-year-old Cathedral
City boy in a gang-related drive-by shooting are slated to be arraigned
today on first-degree murder and other charges.
  

James Ian Carter, 19, and Christian Arturo Milward Ildefonso, 18, were
arrested last month following a Cathedral City Police Department
investigation into the slaying of Alan Martinez.
  

Along with murder, both defendants are charged with criminal street
gang activity, special circumstance allegations of perpetrating a murder for
the benefit of a criminal street gang and shooting a victim from a moving
vehicle, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
  

Each man is being held without bail -- Carter at the Byrd Detention
Center, and Ildefonso at the Benoit Detention Center.
  

According to police, the alleged attack happened just after 8 p.m. on
Aug. 13 at the intersection of Whispering Palms and Mission Indian trails.
  

Alan was walking with two friends on Whispering Palms when the
defendants allegedly pulled alongside in a dark-colored sedan and engaged them,
police spokesman Jon Enos said.
  

He alleged within seconds, gunfire erupted from the vehicle, and Alan
was hit and collapsed onto the street. His companions, whose identities were
not disclosed, escaped injury, running away.
  

The car sped off as witnesses called 911, according to Enos.
 

Paramedics arrived minutes later and attempted resuscitative measures,
but Alan died at the scene.

In the ensuing days, homicide detectives garnered sufficient evidence
to identify the defendants as the alleged perpetrators. They were tracked to a
property on Genesee Cove in San Diego, where they were taken into custody
without incident on Aug. 18.

Neither man has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside
County adult court.