Authorities identify Ventura homicide victim; 2 charged in double-shooting

Jeremy Childs Megan Diskin
Ventura County Star

Two men were charged Wednesday in a shooting reported in downtown Ventura over the weekend that killed one and injured another. 

Raymond Bolanos, 24, and Julian Nuñez, 26, appeared in Ventura County Superior Court for an arraignment hearing in Ventura's first homicide of 2020.

Neither man entered a plea to charges stemming from the double-shooting reported about 2:45 a.m. Saturday on the top level of a parking structure near Harbor Boulevard and California Street.  

Additionally, authorities on Wednesday identified the man killed in the shooting. Alejandro Hernandez, 21, of Ventura, died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to Armando Chavez, an investigator with the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office.

Initially, Ventura police said in a news release that one person was found with multiple gunshot wounds. Hernandez was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

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Another person was also hit by gunfire, authorities said. The other person who was shot suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Senior Deputy District Attorney Blake Heller said Wednesday.

Further information about the second shooting victim was not available. 

Both defendants were in jail custody at Wednesday's hearing, with their loved ones in the audience. The victim's family was also there.

The Ventura County Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent Bolanos, with an attorney from Conflict Defense Associates appointed in Nuñez's case. CDA provides a legal defense for indigent defendants when cases conflict in the public defender's office. 

The shooting occurred when a group of individuals in a red Ford Mustang became involved in an altercation with a group outside a white Sedan parked in the structure, police said. 

Raymond Bolanos

The altercation ended when someone in the Mustang shot at the other group, killing Hernandez and injuring a second person. The Mustang left the scene but the vehicle was spotted later and both defendants were eventually taken into custody.  

Bolanos was charged with murder, attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to court records. Nuñez is accused of assault with a semi-automatic firearm as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm, records show. 

Both men face allegations related to prior felonies and are accused of committing the alleged crimes for the benefit of a Santa Paula street gang, Heller said. 

Bolanos, Nuñez and others were allegedly in the Mustang when a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the vehicle after the shooting. The driver would not pull over, however, so a pursuit began, police said. 

It ended when the Mustang crashed in the area of Victoria Avenue and Nantucket Parkway in Oxnard. Bolanos ran from the Mustang after the crash but Nuñez and the two others were detained at the crash site, authorities said. 

Police continued to track down more information and eventually spotted Bolanos, arresting him during a traffic stop, police said. 

The other people in the Mustang have not been arrested in connection with Saturday's shooting. Nuñez and Bolanos remain in Ventura County jail. Nuñez's bail was set at $290,000 and Bolanos' bail was set at $1.43 million. 

Both men are due back in court for a continued arraignment hearing at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in courtroom 13. 

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