Visalia Police arrest man tied to 3 gang-related murders, dating back to 2010

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Noel Herrera, 29, made his first court appearance on the murder charges Tuesday afternoon.

His alleged accomplice in one of those murders, Fabio Delreal, will likely be arraigned later this week.

The suspects, both Sureno gang members, were already serving time at state prisons and were recently brought back to Tulare County.

After a years-long investigation into three gang-related homicides by the Visalia Police Department.

A break in the case came in February of last year when a CHP officer pulled Herrera over in the Tulare area.

"That was communicated to the Visalia Police Department violent crimes detectives because the vehicle that noel Herrera was driving matched the suspect vehicle description from the homicide that occurred the night before on the 18th, as well as the suspect vehicle description from the shooting that occurred on the 15th at Feemster and Watson," said Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar.

Police also took Herrera's gun during that traffic stop and sent it to the department of justice lab in Fresno, where Chief Jason Salazar says it matched the firearm used in the drive-by shooting death of a 21-year-old outside of the home where a birthday party was happening, and a drive-by shooting a few nights before.

Police say Herrera was the shooter in two other killings-one in January of 2010, another in April of 2014.

Delreal is charged with murder for being the driver in that case. Although those cases are older, authorities say they never stopped working those developing leads, witnesses, and evidence.

"But thanks to the dedication of the men and women in the Visalia Police Department, no victim was forgotten, no voice was forgotten, and this case continued to be developed along the way," said Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward.