Woman pleads guilty to role in Indio storage unit burglary that led to theft of child’s ashes
A woman accused of breaking into an Indio storage unit and stealing items including the ashes of the victim's deceased son pleaded guilty to a felony count of burglary today.
Judge Melissa Hale immediately sentenced Taylor Spencer, 32, to 24 months of formal probation and 270 days of custody Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's office. Spencer received 13 days of credit for time served with the remaining 257 days to be served in a work release program.
A felony count of receiving stolen property was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, and an enhancement for committing a felony on bail or own recognizance was stricken.
Spencer was initially set to be arraigned on the charges in December, but did not appear in court and a warrant was issued for her arrest, which was recalled in January.
Co-defendant Wally Venecia, an Indio man in his mid-40s who was charged with receiving stolen property, also made a court appearance on Wednesday. He is scheduled for an upcoming felony settlement conference on Oct. 10.
Victor Banuelos, 54, of La Quinta was charged with three felony counts of being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, and one felony count each of receiving stolen property, possessing controlled substances while armed and possessing ammunition.
Juan Carlos Molina of Indio, 37, pleaded guilty Nov. 28, 2023 to one felony count of burglary and was immediately granted one year of supervised release.
The burglary occurred in November 2023 at Prime Storage in the 42900 block of Madison Street, according to the Indio Police Department. Detectives pursued multiple leads over the following days, during which two traffic stops and a search warrant led them to arrest Molina.
Detectives then allegedly found some of the victim's belongings at a Bermuda Dunes motel, prompting a search warrant to be served in Palm Desert, where Banuelos was arrested for allegedly having a large amount of the victim's property, an assault weapon, additional handguns and 1 1/3 pounds of methamphetamine for sale.
"Due to the continuing investigation, the child's ashes were dropped off at Cal Fire Station No. 81 (in Palm Desert),'' police said. "Detectives quickly responded to the fire station and contacted the Riverside County coroner, who was in possession of the ashes of the victim's child."
The ashes were delivered to the family, and two additional suspects -- Venecia and Spencer -- were subsequently found and arrested in Coachella, according to police.
The three defendants were free from jail on varying bail bonds.
