Man absolved of wrongdoing in La Quinta party shooting death

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A man was cleared of all charges in the 2019 shooting death of a Halloween partygoer in La Quinta after an Indio jury acquitted him, court records confirmed today.  

After deliberating less than five hours Monday, jurors weighing the fate of Jorge Andres Huerta Arias, 24, of Whitewater returned with not guilty verdicts on murder and the lesser and included offense of voluntary manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Anthony Carrillo of La Quinta.

The trial concluded Monday after roughly two weeks of testimony at the Larson Justice Center. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling closed the case following jurors' verdicts. However, Arias was not immediately released from the Benoit Detention Center, where he remained held without bail Tuesday pending resolution of an unrelated felony case, for which a hearing is scheduled Feb. 13.  

Carrillo was fatally shot on Oct. 26, 2019.   

At the outset of the trial, defense attorney Shaun Sullivan contended the ``case is about survival,'' not murder.   

Sullivan told jurors Arias went to the party with his cousin and her boyfriend to have a good time -- not to promote his "clique," as the prosecution argued.

The attorney said Carrillo was a member of his own clique and he and Arias had been at odds previously. Sullivan described Carrillo as a bully, who joined his associates in trying to intimidate the defendant while they attended high school together.   

According to the defense, during the Halloween party, his client clearly heard someone shouting, "Smoke this fool; get the gun!'' and Arias was instantly in fear of his life.   

"He fires back out of survival, out of fear,'' Sullivan told the jury.   

He acknowledged Arias fled the scene, but said it was for self preservation, which he also said explained the young man's choice of hospitals. He said Arias worried that if he tried to go to a medical facility in the Coachella Valley, Carrillo's associates might seek him out to finish what they started at the party.  

Deputy District Attorney Steve Sorensen told jurors that Arias went to the house party at 53965 Avenida Madero armed with a handgun and intent on causing trouble.

Sorensen outlined how the defendant was active in his gang and wore a black hat with the brand clearly visible to reinforce his standing as a member. While others were dancing to loud music shortly after midnight, Arias turned confrontational, focusing his attention on individuals he perceived as adversaries, the prosecutor alleged.

"Instead of using his hands, the defendant pulls out a gun,'' Sorenson said, adding that Arias unleashed a ``volume of shots'' that caused people to dive for cover or run.

Carrillo was in the line of fire and mortally wounded. Someone -- it was unclear who -- returned fire and shot Arias in the buttocks, possibly as he fled from the property, according to the prosecution.

Sheriff's deputies converged on the residence minutes later and discovered the victim in critical condition. He was taken to a Coachella Valley hospital, where he died that morning.

The defendant went to a friend's residence in Cathedral City, where he elicited help. He was taken to San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital in Banning for treatment of his non-life-threatening posterior wound.

Hospital staff notified law enforcement of the patient's arrival, and Cathedral City police officers went to question him because he claimed to have been the victim of a drive-by attack in that city.

Sorensen said a search of the area where the supposed drive-by occurred turned up no evidence to support the claim.   

Though he was ultimately connected with the shooting at the La Quinta property, Arias was not immediately arrested. Sheriff's detectives spent the ensuing years tying together loose ends and gathering sufficient evidence to finally seek felony charges against him in 2025, culminating in his arrest last June.

Arias has no documented prior felony convictions in county adult court.