Attempted murder filed against 3 gang members in Pasco drive-by

A Pasco man recovering after being shot four times last weekend says when men in a car pointed “finger guns” at him and yelled their gang name, he knew that meant trouble.

Orfanel Campos-Pineda spoke with Pasco detectives Monday, two days after he tried to outrun the gang members in a high-speed chase on Road 68 and Court Street.

He ended up crashing after being shot four times in the face and chest in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.

Campos-Pineda and his friend, Armando Castillo Magana, said they did not know their attackers.

They first saw the men late Saturday at the Pasco Walmart arguing with some other people and flashing gang signs outside a store entrance, according to police. But the suspected gang members started following their car instead as they all pulled out of the Walmart lot.

On Wednesday, felony charges including attempted murder were filed against the alleged shooter Cesar A. Mendoza and passenger Ricardo Munoz Estrada.

Munoz Estrada, who is 16, will be tried as an adult.

The teen appeared Wednesday in Franklin County Superior Court along with the alleged driver, Esmeralda Cabrera-Castro, 19, who was picked up the day before on a warrant.

A fourth suspect — who is believed to be the 16-year-old boyfriend of Cabrera-Castro — has not yet been charged, according to court records.

Campos-Pineda told investigators that it was the other car’s three male passengers that flashed gang signs and finger guns.

He also said he saw the female behind the wheel when the car pulled up next to his Honda in the westbound lane while they were driving east at about 80 mph on Court Street, documents said.

Orfanel Campos-Pineda, 20, remains hospitalized and will need more surgeries before regaining full movement and completely recovering, family friend Zayna Kinsey told the Tri-City Herald.

“He’s slowly improving. He’s able to communicate a little bit,” she said. “We don’t know how long he’ll be in the hospital.”

Campos-Pineda was in surgery for eight hours immediately after the Saturday night shooting, according to a GoFundMe page. He had another 10-hour procedure the following day. He was shot once in the face the three times in the chest.

Kinsey said it’s likely going to be a while before he is able to return to work. It also has left the people around Campos-Pineda shaken and worried about retribution, especially since neither victim has any ties to gangs, she said.

People can donate at bit.ly/CamposMedical.

“This could happen to anyone,” she said in her post. “It’s sad that you can’t even go to the local Walmart.”

Kinsey described him as sweet and caring. He had been at a party with her children earlier in the day.

Hours later, Campos-Pineda was at Walmart to pick up supplies for detailing his car. He has spent years working on cars, including the Honda he was driving that night.

Surveillance video from Walmart shows Campos-Pineda and his friend, Magana, leaving the store just before 11 p.m. The two men did not interact with either group near the exit, court documents said.

Cabrera-Castro, Munoz Estrada, Mendoza and the other teen got in a white sedan and followed Campos-Pineda’s Honda onto Road 68.

Campos-Pineda told police he was afraid of being shot, so he accelerated down Road 68 and eventually onto Court. He was shot as the cars were approaching Road 54.

Investigators said it is clear that Cabrera-Castro “intentionally and willing took part in chasing down the victim so that one of her occupants could gun down the victim who was fleeing for his life.”

Their sedan did not stop after the Campos-Pineda crashed into the curb.

Mendoza, 20, of Royal City, is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count each of criminal conspiracy, drive-by shooting and first-degree unlawful possession of a .45-caliber handgun. His bail is $750,000.

Munoz Estrada, from Quincy, has the same charges except for the gun charge.

Cabrera-Castro, 19, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, drive-by shooting and criminal conspiracy. She lives in Moses Lake.

Munoz Estrada and Cabrera-Castro are each being held on $500,000 bail. The teen is in the juvenile detention center, while Cabrera-Castro and Mendoza are locked up in the Franklin County jail.

All three are scheduled to enter pleas Nov. 6.