Man who gunned down Desert Hot Springs resident nearly 10 years ago admits murder

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A 28-year-old man who fatally shot a Desert Hot Springs resident nearly a decade ago pleaded guilty today to first-degree murder.   

Richard Alex Bernal of Desert Hot Springs admitted the felony count during a pretrial hearing Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office indicated that sentence enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations would be dismissed under a plea agreement with Bernal, in exchange for his admitting the murder charge.   

Superior Court Judge Charles Rogers set a sentencing hearing for May 22. The defendant is expected to receive a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.  

He's being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.   

The defendant gunned down 35-year-old Emanuel Jenkins on June 15, 2017.   

According to DHS police, Jenkins was shot in the predawn hours in the 66200 block of Pierson Boulevard, near Cactus Drive.  

Investigators did not specify whether there was a dispute between the men, or what circumstances led up to the attack.   

By the time prosecutors charged the defendant with murder over three years later, he was already in custody, facing unrelated felony charges, which have since been dropped.  

One of the previous allegations was connected to a shooting over a gun sale gone wrong in August 2018.

Bernal has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.