Man, 27, convicted of fatal 2021 Desert Hot Springs shooting to be sentenced
A 27-year-old man who was convicted of a fatal shooting in Desert Hot Springs almost three years ago, is set to be sentenced next month.
Michael Leslie Goehner was convicted Feb. 6 of one felony count each of murder and discharging a firearm, and two felony counts each of shooting at a vehicle or dwelling and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, according to court records. He is set to be sentenced March 6 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Officers responded at 10:39 p.m. March 29, 2021 to several reports of gunshots in the area of 66434 Fifth Street, according to the prosecution's trial brief. The victim, Andres Martinez, was found dead at the scene when officers arrived on the scene.
On the night of the shooting, a video captured Martinez walking away from a mobile home soon after gunshots were heard, according to prosecutors. As he was walking back in the direction of his home, several more gunshots were heard along with people screaming.
Another video from a different location captured a figure running by the area where Martinez was, two flashes and then a shadow, which is believed to be Martinez, collapse, prosecutors wrote in the trial brief. No one was able to identify the shooter, but one resident said they saw a man, dressed in black, and with his face covered running down the street from where Martinez was shot.
Multiple 9mm casings were then found along the path the shooter would have taken and more spent casings were found in multiple mobile homes and vehicles, according to the trial brief. The casings were subsequently submitted for DNA analysis and an initial hit for the defendant was made.
Goehner was then arrested Aug. 5, 2021 for Martinez's murder and, after a search warrant was served in his residence the same month, a Glock model firearm was found under the defendant's mattress along with a carrying handle for an AR-15 style rifle, according to court papers.
The defendant remains held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside without bail, according to inmate records.
