OAKLAND — A 32-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with murdering a San Leandro man in a February drive-by shooting, and a second suspect is being detained on unrelated charges, records show.
Yanira Pleitez, of Oakland, was charged last week with murdering 20-year-old Jesse Ahumada, after police identified her as the person who opened fire at Ahumada from a moving vehicle last Feb. 22. Police say Pleitez confessed to the shooting but claimed it was in self-defense.
A second suspect, a 20-year-old man, was identified as the suspected driver but has not been charged with murder, court records show. He’s being held on weapons charges and for violating his parole in a car theft conviction.
According to Oakland police, the 20-year-old man was driving the car on the 1400 block of 104th Avenue in Oakland, when Pleitez spotted Ahumada standing with a group of others and shot him from the passenger side of the vehicle. Witnesses gave police a vehicle description and the suspects’ “street names,” which led them to Pleitez and the 20-year-old man, authorities said in court records.
Both suspects were arrested April 6, in Oakland, and both had guns in their possession, according to Pleitez’s arrest report. Pleitez said she shot in self-defense, but then “admitted she did not see any weapons on any of the victims,” police said in court records.
The 20-year-old man allegedly confessed to driving the car and implicated Pleitez as the shooter. Pleitez is being held in Santa Rita Jail without bail and has not yet entered a plea, court records show.
Police have not disclosed the suspected motive.
Source: www.mercurynews.com