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SANTA ANA (CNS) - Three suspects were charged Tuesday in the fatal car- to-car shooting of a 19-year-old man in Irvine.
Jayden Browndorf, 21, of Irvine, Noah Farmer, 22, of Tustin, and Hailey Angelique Rangel, 20, of Lake Elsinore, are accused in the shooting of Nicholas Alistair Neaimi-Pour just before 12:40 p.m. Thursday at Athel Avenue and Sego Street.
The three were charged with conspiracy with special circumstance allegations of murdering a victim by means of lying in wait. Farmer faces additional sentencing enhancements for discharge of a gun causing great bodily injury or death and the personal use of a gun, according to court records. They were scheduled to be arraigned sometime Tuesday in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Farmer allegedly armed himself before Browndorf and Rangel drove two vehicles to a predetermined area with Farmer in one of the cars, the criminal complaint alleges.
"Browndorf lured the victim to a predetermined location under the false pretense of meeting with her alone," the complaint alleges. "Rangel drove Farmer to a location staged a short distance away where the victim could not see them."
The complaint further alleges that Browndorf "drove to a predetermined location to meet with the victim and parked on the wrong side of the street."
The complaint also alleges that "Rangel drove Farmer, who was armed, to that predetermined location to commit the crime once they were informed the victim was inside Browndorf's vehicle."
Neaimi-Pour got into the passenger seat of a black Mercedes-Benz that pulled along the east curb of Athel Avenue just before a Honda Civic pulled alongside the Mercedes, Irvine police said. Farmer got out of the Honda and opened fire on the victim, police alleged.
Neaimi-Pour got out of the Mercedes and collapsed as a resident tried to help him before first responders arrived, police said.
Browndorf and Farmer lived nearby and were arrested as investigators conducted a search warrant of the residence, police said. The two were booked Saturday on suspicion of homicide.
Rangel was arrested Sunday near Green River Road and the Riverside (91) Freeway in Corona and booked on suspicion of homicide, police said.
Irvine Police Department detectives identified Rangel as the driver of the white Honda Civic the two other suspects were in before the shooting, according to Sgt. Karie Davies, the Irvine Police Department's public information officer.
Police recovered both vehicles involved in the shooting, authorities said.
Farmer pleaded guilty to attempted robbery Sept. 29, 2021, and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records. As part of the plea deal, a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a firearm was dismissed in the Nov. 24, 2020, attempted robbery, according to court records.
Farmer also has a pending case of assault and battery, both misdemeanors, on June 14, 2021, according to court records. He was also charged with a felony count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury on Feb. 9, 2021, according to court records.
Rangel has a pending case of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and malicious damage of personal property, both misdemeanors, on April 14, according to court records.
All three suspects were being held without bail, according to jail records.