Police Seek Fillmore Man in Fatal Shooting

SANTA PAULA — Police want to question a 22-year-old Fillmore man in connection with a shooting in Santa Paula that left one man dead and another in the hospital with serious injuries.

The shooting occurred shortly before 11 p.m. Friday in the 800 block of East Santa Paula Street in the city’s historic district.

Neighbors said they had heard arguing in the front unit of a triplex inhabited by a young woman.

Moments later, two men lay in the street with gunshot wounds.

Richard Macias Jr., 19, of Santa Paula, was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday at Santa Paula Hospital.

The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the back, said Zelmira Isaac, senior investigator with the Ventura County medical examiner’s office.

The second victim, 20-year-old Jesus “Jessie” Duenas of Santa Paula, was shot once in the elbow and twice in the abdomen, according to Robert Snyder, field operations supervisor with MedTrans Ambulance.

Late Saturday, Duenas was listed in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Authorities want to question Jaime Arias about his possible involvement in the shooting and were searching for him Saturday, said Santa Paula Police Sgt. Carlos Juarez.

Macias’ car was stolen from the scene and found abandoned a short time later east of the city limits. It had been set on fire, Juarez said.

The death rocked Macias’ extended family, according to his aunt, Vera Venegas of Santa Paula. His parents, Richard Macias and Gloria Venegas, have retreated to their Santa Paula home, Vera Venegas said.

“Gloria’s taking it a lot worse than his father is,” she said. “She’s under sedation. She’s asleep right now.”

Neighbors expressed shock Saturday over the incidents the night before. East Santa Paula Street, they said, is a place where family is a way of life.

“It’s a quiet street,” said 72-year-old Ruth Colbath, who lives in the back unit of the triplex. “The only traffic is children going to school. There’s an elementary school on one end, a high school on the other and a parochial school in between.”

Late Friday, Colbath said, hysteria ruled.

“I’d say it lasted for 30 to 45 minutes after the shooting,” she said. “When it was over, this girl kept screaming, ‘Richard’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead.’ ”

Cynthia Winn, 47, who has lived on the street all her life, said the incident sounded like a drive-by shooting.

“There were six, seven, eight shots. It just seemed like it went on forever. And there was a lot of traffic at the time. Everybody was just trying to get out of the line of fire,” Winn said.

Winn emerged from her house after the shooting and saw two bodies lying on the south side of the street across from the triplex.

“This is just so senseless,” Winn said.

The slaying was the county’s first homicide of the year.