A 23-year-old man has been charged in connection with the murders of four people whose bodies were found in two different cars, one in San Bernardino County and the others in Orange County.
Alejandro Guerrero Ruiz, 23, has been charged with murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, and murder during the commission of a robbery, according to City News Service. If convicted, Ruiz will be eligible for the death penalty. Ruiz is currently already in custody in Texas for an unknown reason, and must be extradited to California.
Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney said that "drugs were definitely involved" in the murders.
On the afternoon of Nov. 9, the bodies of three men were discovered inside of a burning SUV that was seen rolling down the 500 block of East Oakmont Avenue in Orange. The three victims were identified as Antonio Medina, 19, Fernando Meza, 20, and Edgar Berrelleza-Soto, 26. Authorities say that they were shot and that at least one of them was bound. The driver of the SUV was seen bailing out of the SUV and into the backseat of a black car.
Six days later, the body of Joel Berrelleza, 35, the brother of Edgar Berrelleza-Soto, was discovered in the backseat of a car in Fontana in San Bernardino County. Joel Berrelleza was reported missing on Nov. 9.
Medina and Meza both lived in Arizona and reportedly told friends that they were taking a trip to California, but would be back that night. Investigators found both of their wallets, which contained their Arizona licenses, as well as Edgar Berrelleza-Soto's wallet, which held Mexican ID cards and $900. Joel Berrelleza had apparently asked a woman if she would drive Edgar Berrelleza-Soto's car to Mexico earlier that morning.
