Coachella resident accused of murdering man, burning body to stand trial
A 35-year-old man accused of killing a man and burning his body inside a vehicle in Thermal in July 2020 must stand trial for murder and other charges, a judge ruled today.
Ruben Corria Esquivel Jr. of Coachella was held to answer for one felony count each of murder, arson on a property, having a fire explosive and being a being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, according to court records. Additional counts of being a being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition while prohibited from owning firearms were dismissed.
He also faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and a special-circumstance allegation of having more than one offense.
Esquivel initially pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the allegations in August 2023 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. He is due back in court for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment on Sept. 3.
Deputies responded at about 2 a.m. July 18, 2020, to a vehicle fire on Pierce Street near Airport Boulevard, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Ben Ramirez.
Ramirez said that after firefighters extinguished the blaze, the body of Luis Pinedo, 34, of Mecca, was found charred inside and homicide investigators were called to the scene.
Pinedo's death was initially deemed suspicious by the sheriff's department, which upgraded it to a homicide investigation July 20, 2020, after medical examiners discovered evidence of "homicidal violence," Ramirez said.
"Arson investigators determined the fire to be asphalt and located a discernible fire pattern from a poured liquid on the asphalt, leading to the vehicle,'' RSCD Master Investigator C. Mendoza wrote in a declaration in support of Esquivel's arrest warrant. "At Autopsy, Pinedo was found to have sustained a single gunshot wound to the left side of the head and believed to be dead before being burned."
The Riverside County coroner's office was able to identify the body as that of Pinedo by using dental records, according to the department.
Esquivel was identified as the suspect in Pinedo's death, Ramirez said. He was identified through interviews, phone analysis, call records and social media records, according to Mendoza.
The defendant was allegedly found with severe burns on his chest, face and arm the morning after being at the same ranch where Pinedo was visiting family the night of his murder.
Mendoza said that a review of the phones in his possession showed photos of his burned face and online searches for burned vehicles, dead bodies and homicides in Riverside County.
Esquivel was arrested on July 24, 2020 for the separate Feb. 21, 2020 shooting of a 42-year-old man in Indio, for which he has since been convicted.
He was held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on $1 million bail, with sentencing in that case also scheduled for Sept. 3.
Esquivel was recently also charged in a separate murder that occurred in July 2020
In addition to the murder conviction, Esquivel has multiple prior documented felonies in Riverside County, including attempted carjacking and multiple parole violations, court records show.
