Defense attorney: Quadruple homicide suspect was in car with three victims

A quadruple homicide suspect was in the car with three of his victims the night of their alleged murders, according to the suspect’s defense attorney.

19-year-old Jose Larin Garcia appeared in court at the Larson Justice Center in Indio today for a felony settlement conference. His attorney, John Patrick Dolan, spoke with News Channel 3’s Jeremy Chen and provided more details about the night of the alleged quadruple homicide.

Larin Garcia is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Jacob Montgomery of Cathedral City, 18-year-old Juan Duarte-Raya of Cathedral City, and 17-year-old Yuliana Garcia of Thousand Palms, and 25-year-old Carlos Campos Rivera of Desert Hot Springs.

Larin-Garcia reportedly had a friendship with Jacob Montgomery, according to Dolan.

Larin-Garcia was arrested on February 4 at 7:48 p.m. at the Greyhound station in Indio.

Authorities identify Palm Springs quadruple homicide victims

“He was arrested the night of February 4th at the Greyhound station after we developed probable cause to believe he was in possession of a high capacity magazine and that’s what he was arrested for and sent to the Indio County Jail for,” said Sergeant Michael Casavan of the Palm Springs Police Department.

Larin-Garcia pleaded not guilty to all charges last week. He is being held without bail and is set to appear in court Friday for a preliminary hearing.

At 11:40 p.m on February 3, an accident was reported near the intersection of Sunny Dunes Road and El Placer Road in Palm Springs. The driver and two passengers died at the scene. Shortly after the accident was reported, PSPD received a call of a body in the road at 12:15 a.m on Canon Drive south of Theresa Drive.

All victims suffered from gunshot wounds.

Montgomery, Garcia, and Duarte-Raya died at the crash scene, and Campos-Rivera’s body was found on Canon Drive.