Prospective jurors filled out questionnaires today in the trial of a Cathedral City man suspected in a fight that led to a fatal shooting at an Applebee’s Grill & Bar .
Willie R. Bustamante, 34, is charged with one felony count of murder and faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to court records.
The prospective jurors were ordered to return on Wednesday to continue jury selection, according to Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Officers responded at 11:31 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2023, to a report of a fight involving numerous people inside Applebee’s at 32400 Date Palm Drive, according to the Cathedral City Police Department.
During the altercation, one person pulled out a firearm and shot the victim, Ernesto Lazcano Arroyo, 31, a Cathedral City resident , according to police. Officers found Arroyo inside the restaurant with gunshot wounds.
Paramedics from the Cathedral City Fire Department took Arroyo to a hospital, where he died, police said.