Trial begins in Desert Hot Springs roommate killing case
A Desert Hot Springs man shot his roommate in the back of the head shortly after demanding that the victim and his girlfriend move out, then threatened to shoot the woman before turning himself in to police, a prosecutor told a jury today.
Brian Keith Hernandez’s attorney opted to reserve his opening statement for later on in the trial of the 49-year-old defendant, who’s charged with murder, assault with a gun and making criminal threats, along with sentence-enhancing firearm allegations.
Hernandez allegedly shot 49-year-old Steven Nelson in the head just before 10 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2017, after telling the victim and his girlfriend that they had to move out of the unit the three were sharing at the Estancia Apartments, 13355 Verbena Drive. Nelson died the following day at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
The night of the shooting, a Desert Hot Springs police officer saw Hernandez pacing back and forth outside the apartment complex. Jurors heard a recording from the officer’s body camera recording device, which captured Hernandez telling the officer “Just check me and cuff me, I shot the guy upstairs.” Police found a .38-caliber revolver on the apartment’s kitchen table.
Deputy District Attorney Anthony Orlando alleged that an argument between Nelson and his girlfriend prompted the defendant to tell the couple that they had to move out.
Four weeks after the argument, Hernandez insisted again, but Nelson and his girlfriend said they needed a few extra days.
“You are gonna get out tomorrow, I don’t give a (expletive)” Hernandez allegedly told them, according to the prosecutor’s trial brief. “No, if you don’t get out, it’s gonna go down. It’s gonna go down tomorrow night if you don’t get out of here.”
Orlando said that as Nelson and his girlfriend were making their preparations to move out, they spotted a discarded mirror near the apartment’s dumpster area and brought it inside the apartment, which incited another argument, as Hernandez was expecting them to move property out — rather than into — the unit.
Nelson and Hernandez got into an argument later that night in the apartment’s kitchen, Orlando said, and Nelson’s girlfriend, who was in a nearby bedroom, heard the defendant say, “So you want to play games?”
Nelson allegedly responded by saying, “Nah man. I’m not playing any games. What are you talking about? There is no games being played.”
The girlfriend later heard a gunshot, then ran out to find Nelson bleeding on the floor, according to the prosecution. Hernandez then pointed the gun at her and asked her “You want to be next?” according to Orlando.
She then ran from the apartment, pounding on neighbors’ doors throughout the complex, leading one of its residents to call the police, the prosecutor said.
Hernandez is being held on $1 million bail.
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