Cathedral City man’s trial For 2017 deadly shooting in Banning gets underway
A Cathedral City man brutally murdered another man in 2017 out of jealousy over a woman, a prosecutor told jurors today as the alleged shooter's trial unfolded.
Ronald Dean Ricks, 37, is charged with one felony count of murder along with a special-circumstance allegation of discharging a firearm from a vehicle and a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to court records.
The charges stem from the Jan. 16, 2017, shooting death of 32-year-old Banning resident Michael Gordon, who police found lying in the street in front of 1296 Wyte Way.
Deputy District Attorney Josh DeGonia told jurors during opening statements Monday morning, that a white Dodge truck was rented out by a woman and subsequently driven by Ricks that day as he fired three shots that struck Gordon in the torso. When the truck was found and processed, investigators said they found gunshot residue.
The victim also had a gun in his pocket, however, there was no evidence to show that he ever brandished or shot it on the day he was killed, according to Degonia.
In opening statements, Degonia said the evidence points to the conclusion that Ricks was the only person who could be found guilty in the murder of Gordon because of his jealousy toward the victim over a woman.
Ricks' defense attorney, Eugene Stillman, opted not to immediately give an opening statement.
According to a trial brief in the case, the truck was rented by a friend of Ricks' ex-girlfriend, who ended the relationship on Jan. 13, 2017, and kicked him out of her residence. His ex-girlfriend said Ricks left in the truck and she assumed he would eventually return it, according to court papers.
On Jan. 16, 2017, while Gordon was at a residence helping a woman load her dogs in a car, another woman saw a white truck back up from a stop sign before it stopped right in front of the residence.
The driver in the truck smiled at the witness and, though she never saw him before, she noticed that he was wearing glasses and had tattoos on his face, according to court papers. The woman began to walk back to the residence when she heard two gunshots, was pushed out of the way by Gordon, and heard a third gunshot.
She saw the driver with his hand and arm extended out the window, with a gun that appeared to be a silver revolver, and saw Gordon with blood coming from his side before he collapsed on the ground, according to court papers. The suspect then fled in the truck.
The witness subsequently identified Ricks as the alleged shooter, according to court documents.
Ricks' ex-girlfriend was previously in a relationship with the victim, according to court papers. In text messages from the day before Gordon's murder Ricks appeared to be jealous of her previous relationship with Gordon and allegedly told her she was worth killing and dying for.
The truck was found the day after the shooting near First and West Wilson streets, a few blocks southeast of the Wyte Way home, according to a declaration in support of Ricks' arrest warrant. His fingerprints were allegedly found on the truck and gunshot residue was allegedly found on the driver's side window frame.
While Ricks' girlfriend was housed at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning for unknown reasons, she also allegedly made statements to another inmate, in which she called the victim her "best friend'' and said Ricks compared killing Gordon with "killing a cat," according to court papers.
Police said in a statement that shortly after the shooting, Ricks turned himself in at the San Jacinto sheriff's station after Banning police circulated photos of him and identified him as a person of interest. He was initially held on an unrelated offense and was not charged with Gordon's murder until December 2017, when he was taken into custody in Hemet.
Ricks remains held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside without bail.
