Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced Friday that charges have been filed against a man accused of shooting two people in a Corona movie theater on Monday.
One victim was killed at the scene. Another was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He succumbed to his injuries and died on Saturday, according to Corona police.
Corona resident Joseph Jimenez, 20, was charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder. The charges included sentencing enhancements for Jimenez’s “personal use of a firearm” causing death and causing “great bodily injury,” according to the district attorney's office.
The Corona Police Department is working with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office to add an additional count of first-degree murder to the charges against Jimenez.
Rylee Goodrich, 18, was pronounced dead at the movie theater. Paramedics rushed 19-year-old Anthony Barajas to the hospital with severe injuries. He was put on life support. Barajas died two days after Jiminez was charged in the shooting.
The shooting took place at a 9:35 p.m. showing of the horror movie “The Forever Purge.” The premise of films in the Purge series is that all crime is legal once a year for 12 hours.
Theater employees who went to clean the auditorium after the movie ended discovered the two victims who had both been shot in the head.
The district attorney’s office said the alleged shooter has no known connection to the victims and that the shooting “ appears to be a random and unprovoked attack.”
Detectives found and seized a handgun of the same caliber as the weapon
believed to have been used in the murder when they searched Jiminez’s house.
Jimenez was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility where he is being held without the possibility of bail.
The Division of Victim Services has contacted the families of both victims. The division will help Rylee’s family with funeral expenses through the California Victim Compensation Board.
There are GoFundMe campaigns for the families of both Goodrich and Barajas.
Julie Barajas, who created the GoFundMe, wrote of the 19-year-old, "Anthony was the light of so many people's lives and there are tough times ahead, but we have amazing family and friends to get through this." The fundraiser will help with medical costs. It had raised over $70,000 as of Saturday.