Man convicted of manslaughter in death at Cathedral City Applebee’s

NOTE in the story published Tuesday on this case, CNS referenced the defendant as acquitted entirely for the death of the victim. That was not accurate, owing largely to the court clerk's incomplete notations in the summary minutes available to the public. At 5:15 p.m. Monday, those minutes showed "acquitted'' of murder, but did not contain any other details, which were only updated by the time court business resumed Tuesday morning. The updated summary page reflects the defendant was in fact convicted of the lesser and included offense of voluntary manslaughter, as detailed below.

A man who fatally shot a 31-year-old acquaintance during an altercation at a Cathedral City restaurant will be sentenced in December following his conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

A Riverside jury deliberated two days before returning with the guilty verdict Monday afternoon for 34-year-old Willie Ramirez Bustamante of Cathedral City, who gunned down Ernesto Lazcano Arroyo, also of Cathedral City.   

Jurors acquitted Bustamante of second-degree murder, along with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, but they convicted him of the lesser and included offense of manslaughter based on the evidence.   

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst remanded Bustamante into custody, ordering him held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center pending sentencing on Dec. 13 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The defendant could receive anywhere from three to 11 years in state prison.  

The trial lasted nearly two weeks. Jurors went behind closed doors Thursday but were given Friday off. They returned Monday and deliberated until the afternoon before announcing they had reached a unanimous decision.   

According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Bustamante and Arroyo were casual acquaintances, and late on the night of Aug. 6, 2023, the victim went to the Applebee's at 32 400 Date Palm Drive to eat with his wife, Stephanie Salazar, while the defendant went to the eatery with his wife, Hannah Bustamante, and friends.   

The victim and defendant were seated at tables a short distance from one another. Arroyo got up during his meal and walked to the booth where Bustamante and his company were seated, exchanging words with them in what witnesses recalled was a ``friendly'' manner, the brief stated. However, within seconds of Arroyo returning to his table, Bustamante got up and confronted the victim angrily, igniting a fistfight, prosecutors said.   

At least two people inside the restaurant, including a server, used their mobile phones to record the ensuing 25-second altercation, during which a glass was thrown, and Bustamante and possibly two others traded blows with Arroyo, who ``was getting hurt really bad'' until the combatants tumbled outside onto the handicap ramp, where Arroyo knocked Bustamante to the ground, according to the brief.

Several witnesses later told police the fight effectively ended at that point, because Arroyo backed away, leaving almost 10 feet between himself and Bustamante, who nevertheless pulled a semiautomatic handgun and leveled it at Arroyo, prosecutors said.

Arroyo then lunged at Bustamante, who opened fire, mortally wounding the victim, court papers said.

The defendant fled the location, while paramedics and Cathedral City Police Department officers were called.   

Arroyo was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where he died a short time later. Bustamante was identified as the shooter the following day and was taken into custody without incident at his residence in the 69-100 block of Dinah Shore Drive.

A clear motive for the fight was not disclosed.   

Court records show Bustamante was charged with attempted murder and other offenses over a decade ago in connection with an attack in Palm Springs, but the charges were later dismissed.

He had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.