LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A reputed gang member accused of shooting a man and trying to shoot another during a confrontation in Lake Elsinore will ask a judge next week to reduce his bail so he can get out of jail.
Kenyelo Centeno Guzman, 19, of Lake Elsinore was arrested last week following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation in the 600 block of West Lakeshore Drive, near South Lindsay Street.
Guzman is charged with attempted murder, possession of a loaded stolen firearm and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who scheduled a bail review hearing for April 10 at the Southwest Justice Center based on a motion by the defense.
Guzman is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
His co-defendant, 41-year-old Belica Guzman, was arrested alongside him and charged with child endangerment. She’s free on a $35,000 bond and is due for arraignment May 9 at the Murrieta courthouse.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarrod Meissen, shortly after midnight on March 22, Kenyelo Guzman was involved in an apparent gang-related confrontation on Lakeshore. During the encounter, Guzman pulled a handgun and opened fire on the man, whose identity was not disclosed, inflicting “multiple gunshot wounds,” Meissen alleged. Another man, also not identified, was in the line of fire but wasn’t hit.
Meissen said the defendant fled before patrol deputies converged on the location minutes later.
The wounded victim was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar for treatment and was expected to make a full recovery.
After gathering information at the scene, the investigation was turned over to the sheriff’s Gang Task Force, whose members identified Guzman as the alleged assailant, according to Meissen.
An arrest warrant was served on the defendant at an apartment on West Limited Avenue a week later. He was taken into custody without incident. His relative, Belica Guzman, was also arrested at the residence and booked into the Murrieta jail, but she posted bond and was released hours later.
Neither Kenyelo nor Belica Guzman has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
