Carlito Montoya
Amber Scholz
Charles Fowler-Scholz
SACRAMENTO, CA - Prosecutors have filed special charges against the suspected gunman in a New Year's Eve bar shooting in Sacramento that left two people dead, making him eligible for the death penalty, if convicted.
"The decision as to whether we actually seek the death penalty will be made in the next several weeks or months -- once we get all the information we need," Sacramento Assistant District Attorney Steve Grippe said.
Carlito Montoya was arraigned Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court on several charges, including murder and attempted murder with special circumstances for multiple murders.
Montoya is accused of fatally shooting Gabriel Cordova and Daniel Ferrier at a bar in the city's Old Sacramento area. Montoya is also accused of shooting a security guard who wounded him in an exchange of gunfire.
Montoya's friends, Charles Fowler-Scholz and his wife, Amber Scholz, were also arraigned on Tuesday. Prosecutors said they started a fight that led to the shooting.
"The incident began with her being upset that our victim spilled a very minor, minute amount of beer on her," Grippe said.
Both Fowler-Scholz and his wife were charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Fowler-Scholz allegedly attacked Cordova with a beer bottle before Montoya opened fire. Scholz didn't physically take part in the attack, but she is facing charges just as harsh for aiding and abetting.
"If a person aides and abets, or instigates a crime, even a murder, they can be equally guilty as the person who committed the actual physical crime," Grippe explained.
The couple's bail plea has been scheduled for this Thursday.
The Associated Press and News10/KXTV