A 44-year-old man was arrested in Murrieta for allegedly soliciting sex from someone he believed to be a minor online after a month-long undercover operation, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said today. Â Â Deputies from the sheriff’s Southwest Station Investigations Bureau conducted an operation in which they posed as a 14-year-old girl online and arranged
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A woman who aided her boyfriend in killing an 18-year-old woman who witnessed him perpetrate an attempted murder was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Maury Duarte, 32, was convicted in June of first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations of killing a witness to a crime and lying in wait,
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A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Bermuda Dunes shortly after he allegedly tried to assault another woman was identified and arrested, authorities announced. Linnell Letice Wilson, 21, of Palm Desert, was arrested Sunday near the 73000 block of Country Club Drive in Palm Desert, according to an updated statement from the Riverside
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Desert Daze, an annual music festival on the shores of Lake Perris in the fall, has been canceled because of ballooning costs and low ticket sales, organizers confirmed today. “We are heartbroken to announce that `Desert Daze’ … is canceled,” according to a statement released on the Desert Daze fest website. “Due to rising production
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A 39-year-old woman who fatally shot her husband during a dispute at their Coachella home was sentenced today to 50 years to life in prison. An Indio jury deliberated less than a day in June before finding Cindy Gicela Parra Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder for the 2022 slaying of Francisco Lopez. Jurors also convicted
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A Romanian national flagged by the FBI as part of an organized crime group pleaded not guilty today to a theft charge stemming from her arrest in Palm Desert for allegedly stealing a man’s necklace. Marcideza Dumitru pleaded not guilty to one felony count of grand theft of another person’s property at the Larson Justice
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A judge today set a trial date for a parolee accused of shooting a then-14-year-old girl in the head while she was riding in a vehicle with four other children in Indio. Vicente Manuel Reyes, 25, of Thousand Palms was arrested three days after the shooting on May 20, 2018. Â Â He initially pleaded not
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A Desert Hot Springs man accused of giving a fatal dose of fentanyl to his then-17-year-old girlfriend in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Desert Hot Springs two years ago made an initial court appearance today. Michael Garcia pleaded not guilty to felony counts of willful child cruelty and giving a minor a controlled
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Border Patrol agents seized more than two pounds of fentanyl after a police pursuit ended in a crash earlier this week near Coachella. The incident started at 12:20 p.m. when El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents encountered a suspicious white sedan traveling westbound on Interstate 10, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency
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An 18-year-old man was killed in a shooting Wednesday night in Coachella. Deputies were called out after shots were heard in the area of Calle Rojo and Calle Camacho around 10:30 p.m. When deputies arrived, they reported seeing an adult man bleeding in the middle of the street. Deputies said they attempted to save the
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Two men in custody on suspicion of child endangerment following reports of gunfire in Coachella appeared at arraignments today. Â Â Mecca resident Frank Molina, 38, pleaded not guilty to felony counts of discharging a firearm in a negligent manner and willful child cruelty, while Coachella resident Bernardo Moreno, 46, also pleaded not guilty to the
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Jury selection got underway today for the trial of a parolee accused of fatally stabbing a convenience store customer during a confrontation in Indio. Vicente Angel Munoz, 32, of La Quinta is charged with murder, a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and parole violations for the 2020
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A youth soccer coach from Menifee accused of sexually assaulting a Coachella Valley girl must stand trial, a judge ruled today. Â Â Rosario Navarro Gonzalez was initially charged with two felony counts of a lewd act on a minor, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Dec. 22, 2022 at
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A judge confirmed an upcoming trial date today for a Sky Valley man accused in a 2021 Palm Springs murder. Â Â Jeffrey Burgess, 45, was charged with one felony count of murder for the June 22, 2021, killing of 44-year-old Jose Sosa of Coachella and faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great
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A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of shooting a man to death in Indio pleaded not guilty to murder charges on Wednesday. Ruben Molina of Indio entered the pleas during an initial court appearance at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. He was scheduled for a felony settlement conference on Oct. 2. Ruben Molina The
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Central Homicide Unit today requested the public’s help in identifying and locating a suspect in the death of a 16-year-old boy who was found with gunshot wounds during Tropical Storm Hilary last year. Last week, News Channel 3’s Tori King spoke with the teen’s family as they continue to search
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An arrest was made following a deadly Fentanyl overdose incident that happened near Desert Hot Springs in 2022. Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said the Desert Hot Springs man was captured Monday at the US-Mexico border. He was accused of providing drugs to a 17-year-old female at a home located off Via Quedo in unincorporated area
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Palm Springs Police are searching for a suspect wanted in shooting a 17-year old Palm Springs resident Monday night. Police spokesperson Lt. Gus Araiza says just before 11:00 pm officers were called to the 400 block of Bon Air Drive in a response to reports of shots fired in the area. Police found evidence of
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A school bus filled with students was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene Monday afternoon in La Quinta. The crash happened at around 3:17 p.m. on Avenue 50 and Washington Street. According to the Desert Sands Unified School District, the school bus was stopped due to a separate crash that it was not
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The California Supreme Court ruled today that trial courts will be required to advise defendants of the consequences of pleading guilty to crimes that could make them eligible for designation as a sexually violent predator, in a ruling stemming from a case out of El Cajon.  The state’s highest court found that typically, defendants are
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