Man suspected in DHS shooting to stand trial on attempted murder charge
A 23-year-old man accused of shooting another man with an assault rifle in Desert Hot Springs was ordered today to stand trial on an attempted murder charge.
Manual Rivera-Villa of Desert Hot Springs is also facing a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury. The charge and allegation stem from the April 9, 2020, shooting of a man in front of a residence in the 66700 block of First Street.
During a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Wednesday, Desert Hot Springs Police Department Detective Chris Tooth said he interviewed the defendant's sister, who told him that Rivera Villa burst in through the door of their family's home, appearing to have just been in a fight, and told them that someone was going to shoot at their home.
She said her brother, who was scratched up and had blood on him, went to get a rifle and started to leave the residence but she and her father attempted to restrain him because they were "afraid he was going to do something stupid," Tooth said. The defendant's sister said Rivera-Villa smelled like alcohol and eventually left the residence, with the rifle, through the window, according to the detective.
The sister subsequently went looking for her brother and found him near Mesquite and Acoma Avenues, where she picked him up and began to drive him to another brother's residence, according to Tooth. As she was driving on Palm Drive, she made a turn on First Street in an effort to "double-down" and pick up their father as well, but before she made the turn going toward their family's home, her brother told her to keep going straight.
As she was driving, Rivera-Villa allegedly began shooting out a window at a group of people standing in front of a residence, Tooth said. The sister accelerated the car and one person from the residence shot back, according to the detective.
Desert Hot Springs Police Department Detective Gregory Elias testified that when he responded to the location around 9 p.m. the day of the shooting, he saw people compressing towels over a wound to the lower abdomen of a man who had just been shot.
Elias said the victim was going in and out of consciousness, so he was not able to hold a full conversation with him.
The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to a statement from the police department.
Rivera-Villa was identified as a suspect in the crime and arrested the day after the shooting in the 12400 block of Jasmine Drive with assistance from the District Attorney's Office Gang Impact Team.
At the end of the preliminary hearing Wednesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gregory J. Olson ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold Rivera-Villa over for trial on the attempted murder count as well as the sentence-enhancing allegation. A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for Sept. 1.
Rivera-Villa remains held at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio on $1 million bail.
