Ex-con sentenced to more than 85 years for shooting & carjacking Army reservist in Coachella

A 22-year-old ex-convict was sentenced today to more than 85 years in state prison for shooting an Army reservist in the hand during a carjacking in Coachella.

Alejandro Flores Magana was convicted last month of carjacking, assault with a gun, vehicle theft and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Jurors also found true numerous sentence-enhancing allegations, including inflicting great bodily injury, using a firearm, and criminal street gang activity.

On Friday, Magana was given a 31-year determinate sentence plus a 55-years to life indeterminate sentence for the shooting of then-19-year-old Jasmine Vera as she sat in her car outside her aunt’s apartment on Sept. 12, 2015.

Magana approached Vera at 4:22 a.m. at 53551 Harrison St., brandished a black pistol and told her to “get off the car” before firing a shot through the window, according to court documents. The bullet struck her right hand.She ran from her attacker, who drove off with her car, according to prosecutors.

Magana was arrested almost two weeks later at his home. He admitted the carjacking to sheriff’s deputies but said that he was drunk and high on drugs at the time and described the shooting as accidental, saying he didn’t know how the gun went off, according to court documents.

Magana’s attorney, Gregory M. Johnson, maintained that his client’s “so-called confession” was coerced. He said deputies told Magana that his DNA had been found inside the victim’s car, which was untrue. Johnson also told jurors that Magana cannot read or write, and was handed a confession written by a deputy, which he felt forced to sign.

Witnesses who testified at the trial stated that Magana was with them at a party on the night of the shooting.

Deputy District Attorney Anthony Orlando argued that a number of witnesses — including some of Magana’s family members — who testified that he was with them at the party only spoke up regarding his alibi a few weeks prior to the trial. Magana never mentioned a party during his interviews with police, the prosecutor said.

Orlando told jurors that Magana, a documented gang member, “did it for the joy of it, and for the respect he would get from his fellow gang members.”

Magana previously was charged with attempted murder in connection with a 2013 shooting, but that charge was dropped after he pleaded guilty to assault. He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison but was released just over a year later, about two months prior to the alleged carjacking.