Orange Mass Shooting Suspect Remains Unconscious, Court Postponed

ORANGE, CA —A man accused of locking the gates, trapping and killing four people and critically injuring a 5th will not be arraigned Monday, officials say. Doctors have said that Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzales, 44, remains unconscious Monday.

Police have accused Gonzales of killing four people, including a 9-year-old boy, and critically wounding a fifth victim in a shooting rampage in an office complex in Orange last week. The multiple murder charges make him eligible for the death penalty if he's convicted, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to pursue the ultimate punishment.

Gonzalez has been unable so far to communicate with his attorneys and remains hospitalized at UC Irvine Medical Center, Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison said.
A bedside arraignment for Gonzalez, who was shot last Wednesday by police in the courtyard of the building at the 200 block of W. Lincoln Ave. and remains in critical condition.

The arraignment was tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday.

At a video conference from Gonzales's bedside Friday, Morrison showed that the defendant remained unconscious.

Though Gonzalez has opened his eyes but is unable to communicate with his attorneys.

The charges against Gonzalez include four counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and one count of attempted murder. He also faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and sentence enhancements alleging the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, premeditation, personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, personal use of a firearm and personal discharge of a firearm.

Police allege the defendant specifically targeted Unified Homes, a real estate company selling manufactured homes, and was acquainted either personally or professionally with all of the victims, who were identified by police as 50-year-old company co-owner Luis Tovar; his daughter, 28-year-old Jenevieve Raygoza; 9-year-old Matthew Farias; and company employee Leticia Solis Guzman, 58.

Raygoza, who worked for her father's company, is survived by her husband and two young children. The boy's mother, Blanca Ismeralda Tamayo, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the child's family pay for funeral costs and had raised more than $44,000 as of Monday. The boy's father, Rafael Arias, told ABC7 that his only child had hoped to be an astronaut or a police officer.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at a Thursday news conference that "a little boy died in his mother's arms as she was trying to save him during this horrific massacre."

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.