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Posted on Thu, Dec. 21, 2006



Hesperia boy's shooting may have been immigrant deal gone sour


Associated Press

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - An illegal immigrant kept driving for up to 30 minutes after a 12-year-old boy was shot in his car because he was afraid to stop and call police, court documents indicate.

Gabriel Garcia of Hesperia, was taken off life support and pronounced dead at a hospital on Friday.

A man arrested in the Dec. 11 shooting, 43-year-old Pedro Escobedo of San Bernardino, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Authorities originally thought the shooting was an act of road rage but in court documents filed in San Bernardino, a man indicated it stemmed from an illegal immigrant smuggling deal that went sour.

Gregorio Hernandez, 32, of El Cajon said he was driving the car in which the boy was riding along with two illegal immigrants and a friend, who planned to hand over the immigrants to family members in exchange for $40 each.

When they stopped in a parking lot to make the transfer with people in a second car, a dispute arose and a chase began, Hernandez said.

During the freeway chase shots were fired twice, about 20 minutes apart. The second volley struck the boy in the head.

Hernandez, who is in the country illegally, said he kept driving for 20 to 30 minutes, hoping someone would call police because he was afraid to call himself.

Hernandez said he finally stopped in a shopping center and went into a store to evade his pursuers. Meanwhile, a witness told authorities that the adults from his car got into their pursuer's car and drove away.

Hernandez told police he left the boy because he thought police and an ambulance would arrive to help him.