Parolee accused of shooting 14-year-old girl in the head in Indio must stand trial
A parolee accused of shooting a 14-year-girl in the head while she was riding in a vehicle with four other children in Indio must stand trial on six counts of attempted murder, a judge ruled today.
Vicente Manuel Reyes, 25, of Thousand Palms was arrested three days after the May 20, 2018 shooting.
Following a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dale Wells found prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for Reyes to stand trail.
Reyes remains in custody on $2.16 million bail and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 13 for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment.
He allegedly fired on the vehicle as it traveled near John Nobles Avenue and Monroe Street, striking the girl and missing the car's adult driver and four other occupants -- girls aged 15, 13 and 5 and a 15-year-old boy.
A motive for the shooting has not been disclosed, but the Indio Police Department at the time characterized it as a "senseless act of violence."
The 14-year-old girl was transported to an area hospital with severe injuries, but survived.
Court records show that in 2012, Reyes and two other juvenile defendants were charged in the stabbing of a boy in the parking lot of an Indio movie theater. Reyes was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and pleaded guilty to the felony assault count in 2013. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and released on parole in the summer of 2017, according to a parole violation report, which outlines a February gun possession arrest in Indio that landed him in county jail at the time.
