Two suspects were behind bars Tuesday in connection with a suspected gang shooting that fatally wounded a man last summer in a neighborhood near Sweetwater Reservoir.
Dejell Broadnax, 23, and Jordan Renee Mitchell, 28, are suspected in the death of 32-year-old Jorkim Rose on Aug. 16, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responding to reports of gunfire about 9:30 p.m. that day found Rose mortally wounded at the intersection of Jamacha Boulevard and Thayer Drive in Spring Valley, Lt. Chris Steffen said.
Paramedics took Rose to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives arrested Broadnax on Friday morning at an apartment complex on South Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos, and members of a fugitive task force took Mitchell into custody Monday afternoon near a park on Bostonia Street in El Cajon, according to sheriff’s officials.
“At this point in the investigation, it appears the suspects and the victim did not know each other, but the circumstances and motivation behind the incident seem to be gang-related,” Steffen said.
Both men have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Mitchell faces an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to a criminal complaint filed against the men, they set out to hunt rival gang members on Aug. 16 in a car. Both men were armed with handguns, the complaint alleges.
They later allegedly spotted the victim, who was wearing a color associated with a rival gang, then parked their car a few blocks ahead of where the victim was walking. Both men allegedly got out of the car and waited for Rose to approach, then began firing when he was nearby, according to the complaint.
Broadnax was arraigned Tuesday afternoon, while Mitchell is due to appear in an El Cajon courtroom on Wednesday.
Updated at 6:04 p.m. Nov. 22, 2022
–City News Service