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LAS CRUCES - Three teens and a 23-year-old man have been arrested in the murder of an older man that the Do-a Ana Sheriff's Office is calling a misguided effort to exact revenge for the beating of their friend, 18-year-old Jerry Zamarripa, several days earlier.

Zamarripa remained on life support at University Medical Center in El Paso on Thursday, reportedly brain dead, after being struck twice in the head with a baseball bat while leaving an East Mesa house party around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Homero Avalos, 19, Myles V. Calderon, 17, and 16-year-old Johnny Ray Vallejos - all members of a graffiti tagging crew - and Aaron Valdivia, 23, are charged with first-degree murder, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, tampering with evidence and conspiracy, sheriff's Lt. Michael Kinney announced Thursday morning.

The four allegedly met Monday morning at the Tres Arboles public housing complex to plan their revenge for Sunday's attack on Zamarripa, then met again that evening and decided to "go get them," Kinney said. Avalos allegedly drove to Watson Lane Mobile Home Park that night, to what he and Valdivia believed was the home of someone known only as "Tuna," who they believed was responsible for the attack on Zamarripa, according to court documents.

"That's the trailer," Avalos reportedly said, indicating a home at space No. 35.

The three donned white gloves and Calderon and Vallejos reportedly got out of the car and approached the trailer on foot. There, Vallejos allegedly

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took a .22-caliber rifle out of his pants and fired at least 10 shots at a trailer, court documents state.

But instead of the intended victim, Julian Pe-a Sr., 57, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War who had lived at that location for 10 years, was shot once in the head as he sat in his living room watching wrestling on TV, waiting for dinner to be finished, court documents state.

A neighbor, who called 911, reported seeing two males - believed to be Calderon and Vallejos - running away from the scene.

"Let's get out of here," Calderon and Vallejos said, and the car sped away - passing four sheriff's office vehicles speeding to the scene, looking for suspects on foot, not in a car. The suspects allegedly drove to an area near a canal in Mesilla, where Calderon and Vallejos got out, allegedly hid their gun and walked home.

Calderon later told police "he and several of his friends are very angry that their friend Jerry was hurt ... (and) many of them talked about getting revenge for Jerry," but that "he thought they were just going to go and scare these people," according to court documents.

Pe-a was airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso, where he was pronounced brain-dead. He was taken off life support around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Vallejos later returned to the area where the gun had been hidden, retrieved it and re-buried it, the sheriff's office said.

On Wednesday afternoon, investigators found shoe prints, gloves and a box of ammunition believed to be related to the crime in an irrigation ditch under Calle del Sur, in Mesilla, along what they believe was Vallejos' and Calderon's path of flight.

"Investigators have been working this case virtually around the clock since Monday night," Kinney said in a prepared statement. "During the course of the investigation, more than a dozen interviews have been conducted and several crime scenes and possible crime scenes have been searched."

Avalos, a San Andres High School dropout who lives on the 1400 block of S. Alamo in Las Cruces, and Calderon, an O-ate High School dropout who lives on the 1700 block of Calle Fielder in Las Cruces, were picked up for questioning Wednesday evening and jailed around 6 a.m. Thursday. At the same time, the sheriff's office's Special Response Team served a high-risk arrest and search warrant on Vallejos, a Las Cruces High School freshman who lives on the 100 block of Cinnabar in Las Cruces, and he was taken into custody without incident.

At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Valdivia, of the 900 block of Poplar in Las Cruces was arrested and charged with the same crimes.

The four were identified with the help of confidential informants and the Las Cruces Police Department's Gang and Targeting Neighborhood Threats units.

The investigation is ongoing and further arrests are possible, Kinney said.

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462