Final defendant in deadly stabbing at Desert Hot Springs hotel sentenced
The last of four suspects in a stabbing at a Desert Hot Springs hotel more than three years ago was sentenced today after pleading guilty to multiple charges.
Jaime Eduardo Reynaga, 39, entered guilty pleas to felony counts of assault causing great bodily injury and first-degree burglary in July.
John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office told City News Service that Reynaga received a 10-year sentence in the stabbing case. This was combined with two additional two-year sentences for separate robbery convictions, all delivered at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Hall said.
The total of 14 years will be served consecutively.
Three other men charged in the stabbing case -- 30-year-old Jose Luis Garcia, 32- year-old Moises Mazariegos and 31-year-old Anthony Rene Ayala -- previously pleaded guilty to the same charges. Garcia and Mazariegos entered guilty pleas in March, while Ayala did so in May. All three have already been sentenced.
The stabbing occurred around 11 p.m. April 15, 2021, at a hotel in the 11000 block of Palm Drive, according to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department.
Officers responding to the scene found a male victim, whose name and age were withheld, suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
The four men were arrested between April 21, 2021, and April 24, 2024. Ayala was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, Garcia and Mazariegos into the Robert Presley Detention Center, and Reynaga into the Southwest Detention Center.
Police did not specify a motive for the attack.
All four men have prior felony convictions. Ayala has two robbery convictions, Garcia has convictions for burglary and attempted robbery, and Reynaga and Mazariegos have convictions for burglary and robbery.
