Man ordered to stand trial in Indio apartment complex shooting

A 32-year-old felon accused of gunning down a man in the courtyard of an Indio apartment complex in March was ordered Monday to stand trial on a murder charge.

Salvador Yanez, IV, is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and faces sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm and committing a crime while free on bail.

Yanez, who’s being held in lieu of $3 million bail, is scheduled to return to court Jan. 4 for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment. At the time of the shooting, which occurred March 11 about 8 p.m. at the Encanto Apartments, 46725 Clinton St., Yanez had been free on bond in an
unrelated felony domestic violence case.

Officers found 23-year-old Gilbert Lopez of Indio on the complex grounds, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Yanez was arrested about 9 p.m. March 12, when officers investigating the apartment shooting followed leads that took them to the Miracle Springs Resort and Spa in Desert Hot Springs, said Indio police Sgt. Daniel Marshall.

Officers armed with a warrant searched a room at the resort and allegedly found evidence that Yanez was preparing to flee and forensic evidence linking him to the killing.

Following a preliminary hearing Monday at the Larson Justice Center, a judge ruled there was sufficient probable cause to send the case to trial.