Teen arrested in southern California after Airport Way double homicide: police
Three months after two men were gunned down near Southside Market in Stockton, a teenager believed to have pulled the trigger has been arrested — over 300 miles away, in San Bernardino County, police confirmed.
Iosua Sataua, 18, whose arrest the Stockton Police Department announced Thursday, was stopped late last month by the California Highway Patrol on Interstate 15, according to San Bernardino County inmate records.
San Bernardino County law enforcement allege Sataua is a gang member and was illegally carrying a gun despite having a prior felony conviction, records show. Sataua is in jail at a facility outside San Bernardino.
Stockton investigators will not comment on what might have brought Sataua to southern California, police spokesman David Scott said.
Stockton police believe that Sataua and a 16-year-old boy shot and killed Jacob Haywood Thomas, 29, and Andrea Lee Jones, 24, on March 4 near Southside Market.
Sataua has not yet been charged in San Joaquin County, a search of court records showed, and no evidence connecting him to the shooting has yet been presented in court.
San Joaquin County would need to extradite Sataua for an arraignment. It's possible San Bernardino law enforcement could drop charges and allow the 18-year-old to face the stiffer penalties that come with a murder charge.
The neighborhood around Airport Way and Eighth Street has seen multiple shootings this year: less than two weeks after the March 4 double homicide, a triple shooting near Van Buren Elementary School left two young men dead and a third injured.
Omar Rincon, 20, and Justin Schenk, 17, were killed, according to the county medical examiner's office.
A 16-year-old was also arrested following the March 4 double homicide, police stated Thursday. Law enforcement typically do not disclose the names of minors who are arrested.
Police have provided no information about possible motives in the homicides.
Sataua had a court appearance Monday at San Bernardino County court in Victorville, records show.
A spokesperson for the county's district attorney did not respond to a call Monday morning about the results of his hearing.
Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Teen arrested near San Bernardino after Stockton homicide
