Man convicted of killing Tour de Palm Springs bicyclist, injuring another while driving high on drugs
An unlicensed driver who killed a Tour de Palm Springs bicyclist and severely injured another when he lost control of his car and crashed while high on drugs in Indio Hills was convicted today of second-degree murder and other charges.
A Riverside jury deliberated nearly three days before finding Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr., 26, of Desert Hot Springs guilty of the murder count, as well as driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.
The panel notified Riverside County Superior Court Judge Steven Counelis Monday morning that a unanimous verdict had been reached, resulting in Huerta being convicted on all counts.
The judge remanded the defendant into custody at the Robert Presley Jail -- he had been free on a $250,000 bond -- and scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 30 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Huerta is facing a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison.
The prosecution and defense delivered closing statements in the nearly two-week trial on Wednesday, and the jury went behind closed doors that afternoon, ending last week without a verdict. Jurors were in deliberations only a short time Monday before announcing they had reached a decision.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, the defendant was a repeat traffic offender, racking up seven citations over a two-year span for speeding, failing to obey traffic signals and signs, making unsafe lane changes and driving while distracted due to use of a cellular telephone.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles in 2017 suspended his driving privileges because he had accumulated so many points on his record that he was deemed a ``negligent operator'' and unsafe to be on the road.
Shortly after 9 a.m. on Feb. 10, 2018, Huerta left his family's residence in his 2006 Ford 500 sedan, lit up a marijuana bong and headed for his girlfriend's house in Indio.
The annual Tour de Palm Springs was underway at the time, with bicyclists from the U.S. and abroad participating in the 50-mile ride through the Coachella Valley.
According to the brief, multiple law enforcement agencies in the region were staffing road blocks, and the event was heavily advertised in area media, notifying the public that riders would be traversing a number of corridors, requiring motorists to take precautions.
"The defendant traveled between 90 and 100 mph on Dillon Road, passing numerous bicyclists for more than 15 miles,'' the brief stated. "Approximately 9:20 a.m., the defendant approached 30th Avenue and came upon a vehicle traveling at a slow speed, using caution amongst the racers. (Huerta) impatiently attempted to pass the slow-moving truck. As he sped around it, his tires hit the dirt shoulder on the opposite side of the roadway."
Court papers said Huerta lost control, and his car plowed into 49-year-old Mark Kristofferson of Lake Stevens, Washington, as well as then-48-year-old Alyson Lee Akers of Huntington Beach. After striking the victims, the sedan hit a berm and overturned.
Huerta extricated himself and tried to run into the desert to hide the marijuana he'd been smoking, but witnesses prevented him from going anywhere and called 911.
Paramedics reached the location a short time later and pronounced Kristofferson dead at the scene. Akers was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs for treatment of significant head trauma.
"Witnesses were contacted at the scene of the collision,'' court papers said. "More than a dozen bicyclists came forward with terrifying accounts of their near-misses with the defendant."
Huerta suffered minor injuries in the rollover crash and was treated and released from the hospital the next day.
He had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
