2 women jailed on $250K for shooting partygoer in the stomach

Three women who were asked to leave a Pasco party early Sunday attacked the host and her father, then shot a partygoer through in the stomach, say police.

Patty S. Vazquez Lopez, 27, and Claudia Y. Rizo, 26, are locked up on $250,000 bail each for the attack on North 19th Avenue.

A Franklin County Superior Court judge on Tuesday found probable cause to hold them on suspicion of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and first-degree burglary.

They initially appeared in court Monday, but their hearings were delayed a day because the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has a conflict of interest.

The party host, who allegedly was dragged out of her house by the suspects, is a Franklin County employee.

So the charging decisions and the criminal cases will be handled by Benton County prosecutors.

A third suspect, Becky Avalos, 23, reportedly will be charged with simple assault in a lower court.

The three women initially denied being at the party when shots were fired, but later admitted it and claimed they acted in self-defense, according to prosecutors.

Court documents state that Elisette Guajardo was having a small party in her garage apartment when Vazquez Lopez, Rizo and Avalos showed up.

At some point, Vazquez Lopez approached Guajardo and repeatedly asked, “What’s up?”

Guajardo and her friend, Sandra Mendoza, tried to calm her down and tell her there wasn’t a problem, but Vazquez Lopez continued to insist there was an issue, documents said.

She was asked to leave. That’s when the trio grabbed Guajardo, dragged her outside and started hitting her, court documents said.

Guajardo’s father came outside and tried to help his daughter by pulling the women apart. But then one woman hit him while an unknown man held him from behind, documents said.

Vazquez Lopez allegedly told the group she was going to get her “strap,” then went to her Black Honda where she retrieved a 9mm gun, said investigators.

She opened fire on the house as Guajardo, her father and others ran inside, court documents said.

Mendoza, Guajardo’s friend, was hit in the abdomen with the bullet exiting through her back. She was hospitalized but the wound was not life-threatening, said officials.

At least two bullets also hit the home.

Pasco police were called at 1:54 a.m. and arrived to find several 9mm casings on the ground, documents said.

The suspects already were gone, but were found by officers near North 18th Avenue and Court Street. A shell casing reportedly was found on the trunk of their parked black Honda.

A Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol allegedly was found inside the car, along with matching ammunition. Police also searched Rizo’s home and found a .45-caliber gun in her purse, documents said.