Man accused of shooting 14-year-old girl in the head re-enters not guilty plea
A parolee accused of shooting a 14-year-girl in the head while she was riding in a vehicle with four other children in Indio re-entered a not guilty plea today on six counts of attempted murder and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 14 for a trial-readiness conference.
Vicente Manuel Reyes, 25, of Thousand Palms was arrested three days after the May 20, 2018, shooting.
Following a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dale Wells found prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for Reyes to stand trail.
Reyes remains in custody on $2.16 million bail.
He allegedly fired on the vehicle as it traveled near John Nobles Avenue and Monroe Street, striking the girl and missing the car's adult driver and four other occupants -- girls aged 15, 13 and 5, and a 15-year-old boy.
A motive for the shooting has not been disclosed, but the Indio Police Department characterized it as a "senseless act of violence."
The 14-year-old girl was transported to an area hospital with severe injuries, but survived.
Court records show that in 2012, Reyes and two other juvenile defendants were charged in the stabbing of a boy at an Indio movie theater parking lot. Reyes was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and pleaded guilty to the felony assault count in 2013.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, and released on parole in the summer of 2017, according to a parole violation report, which outlines a February gun possession arrest in Indio that landed him in county jail at the time.
