YAKIMA — Police are searching for two roommates of the 24-year-old who was gunned down in his front yard Tuesday night.
Juan Valencia, 22, has been identified as the suspect in the shooting death of his roommate, Joel Mendoza Mora, said Yakima police Sgt. Mike Pollard.
Police believe he and another roommate, Israel Gutierrez, who is being called a “person of interest,” have left the state.
The two men are different than two others who were arrested and released earlier due to lack of evidence, he added.
“Those people have been cleared,” Pollard said, adding that the detectives are still unsure what happened Tuesday night at the home in the 1800 block of Greenway Street.
“We’re still kind of open ended, we haven’t ruled anything out,” he said. “We really don’t know if it was just an argument or what the details were.”
Officers checking on reports of gunfire discovered Mora’s body about 11 p.m. Tuesday in his front yard, where he had been shot in the neck and shoulder. Authorities say drugs may have been involved in the homicide.
Valencia — who is also known as Evaristo Rodriguez Luna — is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and of medium build. Police have not yet released a photo of Gutierrez.
Both men are believed to be armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 509-575-6200.
— Melissa Sánchez
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/12/24/police-identify-shooting-suspect-in-yakima-homicide
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