Three suspects in Santa Maria Juvenile Hall on 2023 murder charges

May 30, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Two years after the murder of a 20-year-old man, three people are incarcerated in Santa Maria Juvenile Hall for their alleged participation.

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 21, 2023, callers reported multiple shots fired at a large backyard party on the 1000 block of North School Street. Arthur Pichardo was shot and killed. Three other victims survived gunshot wounds.

On Wednesday, Santa Maria detectives arrested one of the suspects in Kern County on charges of homicide with gang enhancements. The two other suspects, who were all underage at the time of the murder, were already in custody on unrelated charges.

Because all three murder suspects were underage at the time of the shooting, they are being held in juvenile hall. Adults can be held in juvenile hall until the age of 25 if they were a juvenile at the time of the alleged crime.

 


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