Two men and a woman are facing charges in the "bizarre" shooting Monday of a teenaged boy in Santa Clara who pleaded with one of the suspects not to harm him, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office.
Two of the suspects, 26-year-old Manuel Ayala, of San Jose, and 26-year-old Crystal Pajimola, of Mountain House near Tracy, have been charged with premeditated attempted murder, kidnapping with intent to rob and attempted robbery of the boy, Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Malinsky said.
The third suspect, Ralph Hamby, 28, of Milpitas, is to be arraigned on Monday in Superior Court in San Jose on the three charges and will face additional charges of shooting into an inhabited dwelling and two counts of assault with a firearm, Malinsky said.
Pajimola was arraigned at the Hall of Justice on Thursday and Ayala was formally charged there Friday afternoon, she said.
According to prosecutors and Santa Clara police, just before midnight on Monday, Pajimola called the 15-year-old victim, a busboy with whom she worked, and asked to meet him at his apartment in Santa Clara.
After the juvenile emerged from the apartment, as Pajimola stood by, Hamby allegedly attacked the boy, struck him in the head with a handgun, demanded money and dragged him into the street, according to Malinsky.
As the boy pleaded with Hamby not to hurt him, Hamby then fired three shots at the teen, striking him once in the leg and shattering the boy's thigh bone.
Local
Hamby also pointed his gun at two witnesses and fired several rounds into the boy's apartment. He then fled the scene in a car with Pajimola that was being driven by Ayala, prosecutors said.
The boy survived but doctors had to implant a metal rod into his leg.
Santa Clara police arrested the suspects separately this week and located a handgun believed used in the shooting in some bushes.
Pajimola and Ayala are being held in county jail without bail and prosecutors plan to ask a judge to hold Hamby without bail at his hearing Monday, Malinsky said.
If convicted, all three could face life in prison, she said.
Police are still investigating what the motive was for the brutal robbery and shooting, which prosecutors have described as "bloody and bizarre," she said.
