Prosecutors to decide whether to retry Desert Hot Springs man whose accomplice was killed during burglary

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Riverside County prosecutors will decide in the coming weeks whether to retry a convicted felon accused of second-degree murder for directly conspiring with a friend to burglarize a Desert Hot Springs house, where the friend was fatally shot by an occupant.

After two days of deliberations, a Riverside jury announced Monday that a unanimous decision on the murder charge against 24-year-old Nathan Alger of Desert Hot Springs was unattainable, prompting Superior Court Judge Tim Hollenhorst to declare a mistrial on that count.

Jurors, however, convicted Alger of firearm assault, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and sentence-enhancing allegations of abetting a first-degree burglary and using a gun during the commission of a felony. They acquitted him of attempted murder.

Hollenhorst scheduled a status conference for Aug. 15 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office is expected to confirm then whether it intends to go ahead with retrying the murder count, or move ahead with sentencing on the convictions.

Alger is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.   

Although it has been legislatively modified in recent years, California's felony murder rule permits filing homicide charges against a conspirator under certain circumstances when the person's accomplice is killed by someone else during a crime.

According to a trial brief filed by the DA's Office, on the night of Nov. 18, 2020, Alger and a man identified in court documents as "Presley B." planned and carried out a break-in at an acquaintance's home in the 13700 block of Hacienda Heights Drive.

The homeowner, identified only as "Mr. J," purportedly owed Presley some money, and the latter enlisted Alger's assistance in going to collect -- at a time when they knew Mr. J would not be at the single-story residence, the brief said.

The defendants were unaware that a man renting a bedroom in the house, identified in documents only as "R.R.," was inside at the time, playing video games.

After Presley and Alger kicked open the front door, they went directly into Mr. J's room to search for money and valuables, the defendant later admitted to Desert Hot Springs Police Department detectives.

R.R. heard the door being forcibly opened and immediately turned off his game panel and bedroom lights, then listened as the conspirators spoke to one another while walking through the house, according to the brief.   

R.R. told police that he armed himself with his Beretta semiautomatic pistol and cautiously exited his room. He went to the owner's room and spotted two masked men -- Alger and Presley -- rummaging through drawers. Presley was closer to the doorway and whirled around, pointing a semiautomatic handgun, when R.R. asked what the pair were doing, court papers stated.

"R.R. feared for his life and fired two rounds at Presley,'' the narrative said. "R.R. felt it was him or Presley, and he did not want to die."  

The victim retreated to his bedroom after firing at the intruders. He told detectives that he heard the men making their way back to the front door. While still armed with his Beretta, he went to see whether the pair had exited the property.

"He saw Presley near the front door, and he turned toward R.R., with the same firearm pointing at him again,'' the document said. "R.R. fired one additional round, striking Presley, who fell to the floor."

The burglar managed to crawl out onto the lawn. Alger went to the getaway car and retrieved a pump shotgun. The defendant later admitted firing the weapon twice toward the house in an attempt to scare R.R. and give him time to aid Presley. However, Alger was unable to drag the unconscious man to the car. An autopsy later determined Presley was shot twice in the chest and suffered a superficial wound to his back. He died at the scene.   

R.R. was not hurt. He was detained for questioning, but after detectives pieced together exactly what had transpired, he was released from custody the same day.

Alger went to two friends to assist him after the deadly break-in, and one of them, identified in documents only as ``B.L.,'' went to police the following day and informed investigators regarding what he knew. B.L. had rented space at his residence to Presley, and the property had a security surveillance system with video and audio capability. The brief said before the burglars left for Mr. J's home, they had been recorded discussing their plans. B.L. turned that tape over to detectives.

Alger was arrested without incident several days later. Court documents show he had a prior conviction for burglary.