29-year-old man sentenced to more than 50 years in prison for Palm Desert Christmas Day murder

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A 29-year-old man was sentenced to more than 50 years to life for his role in a drug-related robbery and killing of a Palm Desert man on Christmas Day 2016.

Roger Rodriguez of La Quinta was convicted of murder and robbery charges Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. He was sentenced to 11 years, 8 months plus an intermediate sentence of 50 years to life, court records show.

Rodriguez, along with Indio residents Alejandro Zendejas and Anthony Garcia, were arrested with killing Skyler Siva, 24, of Christmas Day 2016.

Zendejas pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in October 2018. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 20, according to court records.

Garcia was convicted of murder and robbery in November 2021. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, court records show.

In 2021, a mistrial was declared in Rodriguez's case due to a hung jury.

Deputies found the victim on his couch, wounded but still alive just after 4 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2016, in the 43400 block of Illinois Avenue in Palm Desert, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. He died at a hospital less than an hour later.

The trio was at Siva's home that day to purchase marijuana from him. He was then robbed and shot by Rodriguez and Garcia, with Zendejas acting as the getaway driver, the prosecution said in court papers.

Rodriguez was spotted by witnesses running from the home, and was arrested three days later in Palm Desert, according to court documents. Garcia and Zendejas allegedly fled from the scene in Rodriguez's car.

Garcia was arrested on Jan. 4, 2017, in La Quinta, while Zendejas was taken into custody 20 days later in Palm Desert.

Zendejas had a felony conviction for assault. Rodriguez had felony convictions for burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. Garcia, meanwhile, has no documented felony convictions, but he does have an unresolved robbery case.