Man Arrested in 2021 Indio Homicide After Years-Long Investigation

Indio police arrested a 28-year-old man last week in connection with a fatal shooting that took place more than four years ago, investigators say.

Pedro Angel Gonzalez was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Coachella on February 11, and now faces homicide charges and additional felonies in the December 14, 2021 death of Joseph Espinoza Mendez.

Officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 43000 block of Nairobi Street that afternoon and found Mendez, 27, unresponsive inside a residential garage with gunshot wounds. First responders gave him medical aid and rushed him to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Detectives from the Street Crimes and Major Crimes Units took over the investigation and eventually identified Gonzalez as the suspected shooter, though the department hasn't said what led them to him or why the arrest came years later.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office filed charges against Gonzalez on Tuesday. He's being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Detective Shane DaCosta at (760) 391-4057 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (760) 341-STOP.