Santa Rosa man shot and killed at apartment complex

Reports of screams and gunfire early Monday drew deputies to a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood, where they found a 20-year-old man dying from multiple gunshot wounds, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Santa Rosa man, identified as Austin Sargent-Deselle, was taken to a hospital, where he later died, sheriff’s Sgt. Cecile Focha said.

Detectives are investigating the death as a gang-related homicide but had little suspect information, other than a report of two men in all-black clothing running from the Corby Avenue apartment complex.

A handful of people called 911 at 1:43 a.m., saying they had heard several gunshots, screaming and yelling.

“I was sleeping and I heard the last two shots,” said one young woman who lives at the complex and declined to give her name.

She said she heard a man’s voice pleading with the wounded man to “stay awake and keep on breathing.”

After the shooting, a group of five people carried Sargent-Deselle to a nearby BMW, where he was put into the passenger seat. They were starting to leave the complex for a hospital when deputies arrived.

Sargent-Deselle was taken away by ambulance, and deputies detained the five other people for questioning, Focha said.

The victim’s stepbrother, Cory Shelton, 22, said he was among those questioned. He described being nearby when shots rang out and looking up in time to see Sargent-Deselle collapse.

He said he dragged him to the car and pressed on his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. His stepbrother was awake and talking when the ambulance pulled away, he said.

“My last words to him were ‘I love you,’” Shelton said. “He said ‘I love you’ back.”

Shelton said he did not know who fired on Sargent-Deselle as he hung out with friends in the parking lot. His brother knew people with gang ties, he said, and it appeared “somebody was targeting a specific group.”

“He was the unlucky one that night,” Shelton said.

Shelton said his stepbrother attended Maria Carrillo and Elsie Allen high schools before graduating from an alternative school about two years ago.

Court records show Sargent-Deselle was arrested in April on suspicion of felony assault. Last month, prosecutors said they were not filing charges.

Additional deputies and Santa Rosa police were called to help in Monday’s shooting. Numerous people were questioned but little information was developed, Focha said.

Sgt. Shannon McAlvain, who is supervising the investigation, also said the victim had gang ties and was with several others at the time of the shooting.

McAlvain declined to release further details, saying detectives still had more people to interview.

The 13-unit complex at 2354 Corby Ave. is home to numerous families with children. Hours after the shooting, when detectives and evidence technicians had cleared away their yellow police tape and left, residents began moving about, examining some of the evidence of violence left behind.

Several blood stains marred a concrete walkway along a lawn in a common area. Just off the sidewalk, a crushed flower bed showed where the victim had fallen, according to residents who pointed out where green leaves were coated red with blood.

“Everything happened right here. Right by my car,” said the young woman, indicating her sedan parked just feet from the blood stains.

Another family stood in the parking lot, at a pickup that had leaked gasoline after a bullet apparently ruptured the gas tank. A large puddle of fuel under the truck was being soaked up by dirt or sand, and a pungent odor of gasoline remained.

“They shot the tank of the car and all the gas came out,” said a girl who was standing with family members near the work truck she said belonged to her father.

She said she and her family had been sleeping when the shooting started.

“I only heard when they were shooting with the gun four times,” said the girl, 7.

A woman who works for the agency managing the property showed up at the complex as detectives were finishing their work. While shocked at the killing, Luz Mora said she also wasn’t surprised, saying she’s been aware of gang activity in the area.

“It’s scary,” Mora said. “There are little kids here.”

Unrelated to the shooting, deputies arrested two Santa Rosa men at the scene.

Jose Ricardo Rubio-Rivas, 31, of Santa Rosa was wanted on a $50,000 arrest warrant involving three felonies for grand theft, check fraud and giving a false identification and Abel Driscol Lomeli, 19, was in violation of his probation, authorities said.

Whether the two were in the group of five with the victim or were elsewhere at the complex at the time wasn’t released Monday.

The investigation continued throughout the day, and Corby Avenue was closed between Hearn Avenue and Smokewood Drive until mid-morning.

At one point, a detective wearing purple protective gloves carried away what looked like a rifle with a scope attached. Authorities didn’t say whether the gun was real or why it was taken from the property. McAlvain said no weapons were found that were connected to the shooting.

Detectives are hoping for help from the public and Focha asked anyone with information to contact the Sheriff’s Office. Callers may remain anonymous. The investigation tip line is 565-2185, and anonymous information can be given through the sheriff’s website at www.sonomasheriff.org/silent-witness.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com or Twitter@rossmannreport. You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.