By Jon Chown
An 18-year-old Greenfield man was arrested on Nov. 5 in connection with the shooting near Moss Landing State Beach that claimed the lives of two teenage boys from Salinas.
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested 18-year-old Donald William Breeden of Greenfield on two counts of murder with criminal street gang enhancements. Breeden was booked into the Monterey County Jail with bail set at $2,035,000.
The victims were identified as 13-year-old Nathaniel Flores and 15-year-old Marco Antonio Perez, both residents of Salinas. On Nov. 2, Monterey County sheriff’s deputies, along with California State Parks police and California Highway Patrol officers, responded to a report of multiple gunshots shortly before 2 a.m. along Jetty Road, which leads to the state beach. When officers arrived, they found the two boys, who were pronounced dead at the scene. Both suffered fatal gunshot wounds, said Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Andres Rosas.
Two other people were reportedly injured at the scene, but their injuries were not related to the shooting.
The investigation moved quickly. Three days after the shooting, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office detectives, assisted by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, Monterey Peninsula Special Response Unit and California State Parks, executed two search warrants in the cities of Greenfield and King City.
The first search warrant was served at approximately 3 p.m. in the 900 block of Maple Avenue in Greenfield. Three individuals were detained there. A second search warrant was then executed around 6 p.m. in the 45000 block of Crown Avenue in King City.
As a result of the investigation and search warrants, detectives located Breeden.
Monterey County Sheriff Tina M. Nieto said the investigation is still active and detectives continue to work to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting and determine the events that led to the deaths of the two victims.
“We want to thank the members of our community who came forward with information that helped our detectives reach this point in the investigation. Our detectives have been working tirelessly to determine what led to the tragic deaths of these two young victims,” said Monterey County Sheriff Tina M. Nieto. “While an arrest has been made, our work is not over. We continue to ask the public for their assistance as we seek justice for Nathaniel and Marco Antonio and their families.”
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Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Sgt. N. Kennedy at 831-755-3773 or Detective R. Geng at 831-759-7279.