"It's been a long time coming," mother Chastity Gossitt said. "And we're still fighting. I'm never going to give up."
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27-year-old Freddie Carrasco Jr. was inside a Honda Accord, heading south on Highway 99 near Olive Avenue in West Central Fresno in June 2022.
As a Chevy Tahoe pulled up next to the Accord, officers said multiple rounds came from that Tahoe. Action News video from the scene shows Carrasco's Accord riddled with bullets.
Carrasco went to Community Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and died five days later. The case then seemed to go cold for over a year until prosecutors charged Aquilla Quincy Bailey III and Shamon DeJohn Butler with murder last week.
"I will, on behalf of my client, acknowledge receipt of the complaint," Butler's Defense Attorney Greg Hagopian said Tuesday. "Enter a general denial of all counts and special allegations."
Butler is already serving prison time for another matter. In court on Tuesday, he stood in front of Bailey as their attorneys entered not-guilty pleas.
Action News was not allowed to record the defendants' faces in court, and authorities would not release their mugshots due to the "ongoing investigation."
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Prosecutors say two others, Gracie Mae Snowden and Juliana Woods, are also charged in connection with the shooting for attempting to influence witnesses.
While Snowden and Woods are out of custody, Bailey and Butler are behind bars at the Fresno County Jail. Each is held on a more than million-dollar bail.
California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Salas tells Action News Tuesday's arraignment comes after a year-long investigation by his team and a specialized group of Fresno investigators that handle gang cases.
"These two individuals are part of a street gang here within the city of Fresno," Salas said. "That's why the special enhancements have been placed on them."
In August, authorities offered a $3,000 reward in the case and released a photo of the suspect's vehicle.
Now, the agency is crediting that push for information as helping to crack the case.
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