Coachella murder victim is missing Victorville teen, according to stepfather

Despite two arrests being made in connection with her murder, the Riverside County Coroner’s office still has not officially released the identity of a woman whose body was found in Coachella in June.

Earlier this week, a criminal complaint for Alexis Daniel Rosas and Maury Duarte, two suspects who were arrested Monday in connection with Deaija’s fatal shooting, identified the victim of the murder as “Anita G., AKA ‘Deaija L.'” A parent-in-law of the woman told News Channel 3 her name is Deaija Lopez.

Rosas and Duarte both entered not guilty pleas and had further court dates set, but the coroner’s office still didn’t officially release the victim’s identity because no one could make contact with the victim’s family members.

News Channel 3 began investigating this case and got in touch with Mr. Gerrie (he requested to not be identified by his first name), who says that “Deaija L” is, in fact, 18-year-old Makayla Massey, his stepdaughter. Massey last went missing in June 2018, after she reported her parents to Child Protective Services for sexual abuse allegations.

Gerrie says, however, that the reports to CPS were false, and were just a means to get away for good, as she had run away twice before.

“That was her way of getting out,” Gerrie told Jake Ingrassia. “I guess she felt trapped here and couldn’t get out — and she wanted out.”

Massey first ran away from her Victorville home in August 2017; according to Gerrie, she was sex-trafficking herself and was found a week later in Los Angeles.

She next went missing for a day in January 2018. She received mental health treatment at a facility in Reno, Nevada, according to Gerrie, but ultimately left for good six months later.

A year after her third and final disappearance, she was reportedly fatally shot because she was the witness of a crime.