Local & Community
Man, 40, Arrested in Cold-Case Murder of 17-Year-Old Boy
LA QUINTA (CNS) - A 40-year-old man suspected in the fatal shooting of
a 17-year-old boy in La Quinta in July 2004 has been taken into custody,
authorities announced Monday.
Eddie Zazueta was located Friday by sheriff's deputies, with
assistance from the Riverside County District Attorney's Gang Impact Team, and
taken into custody without incident and booked into the Larry Smith
Correctional Facility on suspicion of murder, according to the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department.
Zazueta is suspected of murdering Daniel Medina of Indio.
At approximately 4:25 a.m. on July 5, 2004, deputies responded to the
52400 block of Avenida Obregon regarding reports of a male victim who was shot
in the area, sheriff's officials said.
They located Medina suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was
taken to a hospital for treatment, where he later died.
Investigators assigned to the sheriff's Central Homicide Unit arrived
at the location to assume the investigation.
Sheriff's officials said the investigation led detectives to identify
a person of interest, but they lacked sufficient evidence to arrest at the
time, and the case eventually went cold.
``As part of the sheriff's office's ongoing efforts to review unsolved
homicide cases, investigators recently reexamined this case. During the
review, several leads and follow-up tasks were identified, and the case was
reopened,'' the sheriff's department said in a statement Monday.
Anyone with information regarding the fatal shooting was urged to
contact Master Investigator Robertson or Deputy Lucifora at 951-955-2777.
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
By: City News Service
July 28, 2026


