Iran Moreno Was 13 When He Was Shot in His Pasadena Bedroom. His Accused Killers Are Due in Court Tuesday.

He was playing video games in his bedroom when the bullet came through the window.

Iran Moreno, 13, died that evening — November 20, 2021 — in the house on the 900 block of North Raymond Avenue where he had been, as Pasadena Police Chief John Perez put it at the time, doing what 13-year-olds do. More than four years later, the two people prosecutors say are responsible are scheduled to appear Tuesday morning at the Pasadena Courthouse for a pretrial hearing in their murder case.

Muhammad Abdul-Malik, 38 at the time of his arrest, and Teraeja Laquanna Flemmings, 31 at the time of her arrest, each face one count of murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. in Department F at the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St.

Prosecutors allege Abdul-Malik stepped out of a vehicle parked in a vacant lot across the street from the Moreno home and fired a single gunshot through a bedroom window before fleeing in a car that Flemmings allegedly drove. The Pasadena Police Department has said Moreno was not the intended target. No motive has been established, according to authorities.

The case went unsolved for nearly four years. In June 2025, Pasadena detectives released enhanced surveillance footage and composite sketches of two suspects. A tip from a woman in Swampscott, Massachusetts, helped identify Abdul-Malik from the sketch, according to a Pasadena police spokesperson. Abdul-Malik was arrested July 11, 2025, in Orlando, Florida. Flemmings was arrested five days later in San Fernando by Pasadena detectives and U.S. Marshals.

The DA’s office filed charges on July 18, 2025. Abdul-Malik is also charged with one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon and faces an enhancement allegation for personally and intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, according to the DA’s office. He pleaded not guilty after being extradited to California in late August 2025. Bail was set at $3 million for Abdul-Malik and $2 million for Flemmings, according to prosecutors.

If convicted as charged, Abdul-Malik faces up to 53 years to life in state prison, and Flemmings faces up to 25 years to life, according to the DA’s office. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Defense representation for the defendants was not identified in publicly available records.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu of the Major Crimes Division.

When the charges were filed last year, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement issued by his office: “The violence that took this young boy’s life is not only tragic, but also unacceptable and criminal. No family should ever have to endure the heartbreak of losing a child under such horrific circumstances. While we cannot undo this tragedy, we will work tirelessly to ensure those responsible are held accountable.”

Iran Moreno was an eighth-grade student at Blair Middle School in Pasadena, according to his family and reporting by KTLA. His family described him as a straight-A student who loved basketball and soccer, according to his family, as reported by KTLA.

The night Iran was shot, his father held him in his arms on the living room floor as family members called 911. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.