Indio man pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter, murder charge still active
A 23-year-old man suspected in a fatal shooting outside an Indio residence pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge today, while a murder charge remains active.
Ramon Manuel Romo-Tirado of Indio entered the guilty plea on Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to case records. Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney's office confirmed the status of the murder charge with City News Service.
The defendant is due back in court for a hearing on March 27, according to case records.
Officers responded around 4:10 a.m. Feb. 19, 2023 to the 83-600 block of Cardinal Avenue and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound, according to an Indio Police Department spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the victim -- identified in court documents only as "Ricardo D." and by the Riverside County Coroner's office only as a 49-year-old Indio resident -- died at the scene.
The man was found in front of a residence near a driveway and sidewalk area, the spokesperson told City News Service.
Police department detectives assumed the investigation and on Friday identified Romo-Tirado as the suspect, according to the spokesperson. He was arrested and booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center, where he remains held on $1 million bail.
It was not immediately known what led police to identify Romo-Tirado as the suspect.
