VENTURA : 4 Charged in Fatal Shooting at Motel

Three men and one woman were charged Thursday in connection with a fatal shooting at a Ventura motel last month.

Paul Martinez, 21, was gunned down Dec. 18 on the second-story balcony of the Motel 6 on Johnson Drive.

Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark set bail at $1 million for Shaun T. Bolo, 20; his brother, Willard M. Bolo, 23, and Steven F. Hidalgo Jr., 20. Each is charged with murder. The Bolos are from Oxnard and Hidalgo from Port Hueneme.

Bail was set at $250,000 for Naomi C. Honohan, 19, of Port Hueneme. She is charged with being an accessory for trying to help cover up the slaying, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said.

The case had been a mystery until Ventura police developed leads that led to raids on 12 residences and eight cars in Oxnard and Port Hueneme last week, Hardy said. The raids involved more than 115 officers, he said.

“I was afraid it was going to be unsolved, afraid we weren’t going to charge anybody,” Hardy said. “This was a beautiful piece of police work.”

Authorities said Martinez was at the motel celebrating his discharge from the Army with several friends.

The defendants--members of street gangs in Oxnard and Port Hueneme, according to Hardy--were at a different party at the motel. Martinez argued briefly with the defendants and was shot as he stood on the balcony, Hardy said.

The prosecutor said at least two gunmen opened fire from inside their cars in the motel’s parking lot. He would not identify which two are believed to have been the shooters.

He said a bullet went through Martinez’s left arm and pierced his heart, killing him instantly.