SANTA ANA : Shooting Suspect to Be Arraigned Today

Arraignment is scheduled today for a suspect in the drive-by shooting death of an 18-year-old man who was gunned down in front of his home over the weekend.

The suspect, Steven Joseph Salazar, 23, of Santa Ana, was arrested at noon Sunday in connection with the Saturday-night shooting of Salvador Villa Arias in the 5000 block of West 5th Street, police said.

Salazar is being held in Orange County Jail without bail because of a parole violation, a jail spokesperson said Monday.

The victim was standing outside his home with some family members and friends when a red pickup truck drove by at about 8 p.m. with a gunman sitting in the back, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Joe Clark. The gunman fired at least six times into the group, striking Arias in the back of the head but injuring no one else, Clark said.

Arias died Sunday afternoon at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

Police said the shooting was gang related but would not release information about how they pinpointed the suspect.

Arias’ family said he was not part of any gang. The notorious 5th Street gang, they added, operates on the other side of Euclid Street, away from their neighborhood.

“He didn’t smoke. He didn’t drink. He didn’t wear the colors of a gang. And he never hung out with the gangs,” Arias’ mother, Teresa Villa, 43, said.

A friend of the family, Geraldo Suniga, said he, Arias and several others were standing and talking near the street when the truck drove past from the west.

“We heard the shooting and we all ducked,” Suniga said, adding that the truck went by so fast, he couldn’t get a clear look at the gunman.

Villa said her son had recently left Los Amigos High School to start a gardening job. She did not learn about the shooting until late Sunday morning, when she returned from a weekend trip to Mexicali, Mexico.