Moses Lake woman describes horrific shooting that killed 14-year-old: ‘It just happened so quick’

Mario Amezcua called his best friend at 9:11 p.m. Friday saying he and four family members were outside his Moses Lake home ready to pick him up to go to a birthday party, according to the friend’s mother. About two minutes later, a truck pulled up to the waiting Amezcua vehicle and fired multiple shots at the car.

Mario, 14, was killed, while four others – a 26-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy – were injured but are expected to survive, according to the Moses Lake Police Department.

“It just happened so quick,” said the friend’s mother, who wished for her and her 15-year-old son to remain anonymous as two of the three suspects are on the loose. “Like, (my son) didn’t even have time to react, you know? He just dropped down, and then it was done.”

She said her son, who was uninjured, fell to the ground and put his hands over his head to avoid the bullets. He looked over, saw Mario, and held him in his arms. Her son called 911.

She said they don’t know why the suspects fired outside their West Loop Drive home.

None of the victims have gang affiliation or were involved in criminal activity, police said.

Moses Lake police Capt. Jeff Sursely said police are not releasing any more information until all suspects are in custody. That includes a motive.

Mario was a student at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake.

“With profound sadness, we share that one of our students from Frontier Middle School has passed away,” Moses Lake School District Superintendent Carol Lewis wrote in a statement to students’ families in the school district. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the student’s family, friends, and all those impacted by this tragedy. Losing a young member of our community is devastating.”

The district increased support staff, like counselors, security and police officers, earlier this week at the middle school and other locations in the district to provide added security and emotional support to help students and staff grieve, Lewis wrote.

Cesar A. Cabrera, 14, of Mattawa, Washington, was arrested Monday night at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, according to Moses Lake police. He was seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to the lower leg that detectives believe was self-inflicted during the shooting.

Cabrera was booked into the Chelan County Juvenile Center in Wenatchee on suspicion of first-degree murder, five counts of first-degree assault, one count of drive-by shooting and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He made his first appearance virtually from the detention center Wednesday afternoon.

Two adult suspects, identified by the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office as Jose B. Rodriguez and Matthew Valdez, are wanted for the same eight charges, according to a U.S. Marshals Service news release. The federal agency is offering up to $10,000 ($5,000 per fugitive) for information leading to their arrests.

The U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force is working with Moses Lake police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington State Department of Corrections, U.S. Border Patrol and the FBI to locate and apprehend Rodriguez and Valdez, the release said. The suspects should be considered armed and dangerous.

‘We thought this was a good neighborhood’The mother of Mario’s friend called her son and him “inseparable,” as they were always over at each other’s houses.

“They were always together,” she said.

She said her son and several others are traumatized by the shooting, which she said left Mario’s two aunts, brother and cousin injured.

Her family hasn’t been staying at their home since the shooting, and they are considering moving permanently, she said.

She was at another child’s birthday party with her other son when the shooting broke out. She said she didn’t know what happened and was “freaking out” when she got home and saw the crime scene. Bloody bandages and other items were left behind by the time police cleared the scene well into the next morning.

“It was awful,” she said. “I’m just in shock still. Even my son, like, we don’t know how to react. But he feels like it’s not real. He wants to just call him, and he can’t.”

Several other neighbors, like Mary Gonzalaz, heard gunshots Friday night.

She took her children into a back room of the house after she heard the shots. Then, she and her husband came outside and heard a woman screaming, “Mario,” “They shot him in the head” and “He’s not moving.”

Gonzalaz called police, who responded quickly.

“It’s scary,” Gonzalaz said. “We thought this was a good neighborhood.”

Police swarmed the neighborhood again Wednesday afternoon about one block from the shooting. Gonzalaz said someone got out of a car involved in a nearby crash and retreated into a home in the neighborhood. She said police arrested the person after a standoff with SWAT.

Kris Miller, another neighbor, was playing video games inside his home when he heard the gunshots and screams Friday night.

“That sounded a little too close,” he said he told his friend who he was gaming with online.

He turned his lights off and locked his door.

Roberta Lyons didn’t hear gunshots but saw the police cars and ambulances that followed. She said the shooting makes her scared, sad and frustrated.

“They’re babies,” she said of the victims.

She got several calls asking if her 14-year-old son, Brycen Lyons-Curry, was OK when her loved ones heard it was a 14-year-old boy who was killed.

Brycen went to school with Mario and played football with him.

“It’s a tragic event,” she said. “My heart goes out to Mario’s family and that family that had to witness and hold their loved one while he died.”

Brycen was also inside his home when the gunfire erupted. He said the shooting makes him feel terrified “because it could have been me.”

A GoFundMe set up for Mario’s family raised nearly $15,000 as of Wednesday night.

One suspect appears in court as others remain at large

Cabrera sat at a table Wednesday at the Wenatchee facility for his court appearance in Grant County Juvenile Court in Ephrata, where Judge Melissa Chlarson presided and the prosecution and defense made their arguments regarding probable cause and Cabrera’s bond amount.

Chlarson determined there was sufficient probable cause for all eight charges considering the “totality of circumstances” in the affidavit. She set his bond at $500,000 after a $1 million bond argument from the prosecution and $100,000 from the defense.

Cabrera’s attorney, Peter Hibbard, argued probable cause was not established to charge his client with first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Hibbard said he read the 32-page probable cause affidavit, which was sealed from the public, two or three times.

“It’s a lot,” he said of the lengthy court document.

Hibbard said there’s no timeline establishing Cabrera in the truck at the time of the shooting and no evidence that blood found in the truck belonged to him.

One witness, who initially lied to police, did not identify Cabrera in a photo lineup as one of the people in the Ford F-150 pickup truck alleged to be involved in the shooting, Hibbard said.

He said witnesses alleged the truck pulled up and occupants asked the Amezcua family if they “bang,” possibly meaning were they involved in gangs, before shots were fired.

Hibbard said there’s no cellphone data, videos or messages to support a first-degree murder charge.

“We don’t have any extrinsic evidence that places Cesar at the scene of this crime,” he said.

There was no clear motive based on the police report, he said.

Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Cole Deaver said one witness told police he identified Cabrera as one of the three male suspects in the F-150 and that blood in the backseat of the truck placed Cabrera in the truck at the time of the shooting.

Deaver said one witness identified Cabrera as someone who left a motel party in the truck.

He said the “Do you bang?” comment before shots were fired is evidence of first-degree premeditated murder.

Deaver said Cabrera has several prior criminal convictions and failures to appear for court. He argued Cabrera is a threat to community safety and likely to intimidate witnesses if released.

Chlarson told Cabrera he is not permitted to associate with his codefendants and the Norteno criminal street gang as part of his pretrial release conditions. Deaver declined to say after the court hearing whether Cabrera was in the gang.

Cabrera is scheduled for a status hearing April 14.

Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday to decline juvenile jurisdiction in the case and transfer the matter to an adult court for prosecution, according to court documents.

Officials are asking anyone with information about the outstanding suspects to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals Service office or local law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service communications center at (800) 336-0102, or at www.fbi.gov/tips.

“I hope that they find them so people can sleep peacefully,” the friend’s mother said.