A fugitive suspected of gunning another man down at a Costa Mesa quinceañera in 2006 and then fleeing to Mexico has been extradited to the United States to face a murder charge, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Costa Mesa police investigators spent nearly 18 years searching for Pedro Gallegos-Garcia, who was arrested in January in the shooting death of Hermes Rodriguez-Raya.
Officers responding to reports of a shooting at an apartment in the 2000 block of Wallace Avenue on Feb. 11, 2006 found Rodriguez-Raya laying in a driveway with a gunshot wound to the back.
Investigators learned that Rodriguez-Raya had gotten into a fight with someone while attending a quinceañera. Prosecutors allege that Gallegos-Garcia intervened in the fight and pointed a gun at Rodriguez-Raya.
Gallegos-Garcia pulled the trigger but his gun didn’t initially fire, prosecutors said. Then, as Rodriguez-Raya ran away, prosecutors allege that Gallegos-Garcia fired off a gunshot that struck Rodriguez-Raya in the back, killing him.
Gallegos-Garcia fled to Mexico shortly after the deadly shooting, prosecutors said.
A provisional arrest warrant for Gallegos-Garcia was issued in Mexico, as Orange County prosecutors used leads from the Costa Mesa Police Department to obtain the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, along with the Department of State and the Mexican Embassy.
“The investigation and apprehension of this wanted person demonstrates our organization’s tenacity and dedication to ensure justice for members of our community,” Costa Mesa Police Chief Ron Lawrence said in a statement. “The victim in this case was a son and a brother. He had family and friends and he was our community member. I am proud of our detectives who worked this case in the beginning as well as the detectives that kept working this case until Gallegos-Garcia was captured and arrested.”
The FBI and Mexican law enforcement officials tracked Gallegos-Garcia down and took him into custody on Jan. 22, 2024. His extradition was granted in May, and on Thursday, July 18 the FBI brought him from Mexico to John Wayne Airport, where he was turned over to Costa Mesa Police Department custody.
“No one is above the law and no matter how hard a wanted killer tries to evade the long arm of the law, justice will be carried out,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “The men and women who have dedicated themselves to solving crime and holding killers accountable will not rest until they have their man. Nearly two decades of unwavering detective work has resulted in the apprehension of a wanted murderer and as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI, the Costa Mesa Police Department, and the Mexican authorities, the loved ones of Hermes Rodriguez-Raya can finally have their day in court.”
Along with the murder charge, Gallegos-Garcia is also facing an enhancement for the use of a firearm. If convicted as charged, he faces up to 50 years to life in prison.
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