Behind the Badge
Prosecutors on Monday filed special-circumstances murder charges against an Anaheim man accused of shooting a man in the head in a drive-by killing on the 91 Freeway.
David Arzate Cabrera, 45, faces a minimum sentence of life in prison if convicted of multiple felony charges stemming from the killing at around 8 p.m. July 14 on the westbound 91 in Anaheim.
Cabrera’s scheduled arraignment Monday was continued to Aug. 20 at the Central Jail in Santa Ana. He is being held without bail.
Prosecutors and Anaheim police have not revealed a possible motive for the shooting.
They allege that Cabrera was driving westbound on the 91 when he shot at the passenger side window of a pickup truck, killing 32-year-old Agustin Villegas. The driver of the pickup, Villegas’ cousin, 42, was injured but Villegas’ son and a male cousin in the back seat were not injured .
Cabrera, who is accused of driving away after allegedly firing into the pickup, did not know the victims, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities are not divulging what led to Cabrera’s arrest but said he was in possession of cocaine when police took him in July 31. He was booked on suspicion of murder Aug. 1.
Cabrera has been charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by drive-by shooting, one felony count of possession for sale of a controlled substance, one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon, with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and a prior prison conviction in 1990 for possession for sale of a controlled substance.
The investigation by the Anaheim Police Department is ongoing.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting the case.
