Gang member convicted of 2 Indio murders to be sentenced to death

A judge is expected to uphold a jury’s recommendation and formally sentence a gang member to death for the execution-style killings of two men in Indio more than a decade ago.

Jurors in October recommended capital punishment for Elias Carmona Lopez, 30, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Erineo Perez and Martin Garcia on Oct. 10 and Oct. 26, 2004, respectively.

In the guilt phase of the trial, the panel found true special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, multiple murders and committing the murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, making Lopez eligible for a
death sentence.

Defense motions for a new trial and modification of the jury’s recommended sentence were denied this week by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Erwood. According to Deputy District Attorney Scot L. Clark, Lopez was paid to kill Perez, who was shot several times while sitting inside his vehicle near
Indio City Hall. The defendant snuck up on the 25-year-old victim from behind, the prosecutor said.

Garcia, 18, was found dead in an Indio alley, where Lopez lured him under false pretenses, claiming no animosity over their rival gang status before killing him, Clark said. Both victims were shot several times, including in the face.

During the penalty phase of the trial, Clark argued death was the appropriate punishment for a defendant who demonstrated that he’s a danger to others even while imprisoned. Clark read transcripts of recorded phone calls that Lopez made while in prison in 2010, in which he gave out the home addresses of his ex-girlfriend
and her boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s work address to other gang members.

Lopez also expressed anger over the ex-girlfriend testifying against him. Clark said Lopez had told her that he’d committed both murders, providing her details that only the killer would have known.

Shell casings taken from both crime scenes came from the same gun, a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson found beneath Lopez’s mattress, Clark said.

Defense attorney Demitra Tolbert argued that the evidence did not prove the murders were committed by the same person, only that the same gun — which her client claimed he had been holding for a friend he refused to identify — was used.

Clark said a number of other potential suspects suggested to be the killer by the defense could easily be ruled out.

According to the prosecutor, none of the supposed killers had connections to both Perez and Garcia, and none of them could have managed to get the murder weapon underneath Lopez’s mattress.

Tolbert maintained that detectives did not fully pursue the connections between those suspects and the victims to the extent necessary, saying “law enforcement failed miserably” in its investigation, dismissing potential suspects and not following through with DNA testing or witness interviews at both crime scenes.

Lopez was an early suspect in both killings, but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case until July 2008, according to the prosecution. He was serving an eight-year sentence for armed robbery at an Arizona prison when the murder case was filed against him.

During his first trial in early 2016, jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction after about six weeks of testimony.