Parolee to stand trial for allegedly killing Indio man

A parolee accused of fatally stabbing a 27-year-old Indio man last year must stand trial on murder and other charges, a judge ruled today.

Vicente Angel Munoz, 29, is charged in the March 14, 2020, killing of Maurice Brock.

Following a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke Strunsky found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on the murder count, as well as sentence- enhancing allegations of using a knife during the commission of a felony and committing a violent felony.

A post-preliminary hearing arraignment is scheduled for July 21.

Munoz remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.

The defendant allegedly got into a fight with the victim for reasons unclear outside a Circle K store near Jefferson Street and Highway 111 about 12:55 a.m.

Indio police officers arrived a short time later and found Brock stabbed in the upper body. He died at JFK Memorial Hospital about an hour later.

Detectives did not say how they identified Munoz as a the alleged perpetrator, and the relationship between the defendant and victim, if any, wasn't specified.

According to court records, Munoz has a prior felony burglary conviction.