Man gets 48 years to life for fatal Desert Hot Springs shooting in 2021
A 27-year-old man who was convicted of a fatal shooting in Desert Hot Springs almost three years ago was sentenced today to 48 years and eight months to life in prison.
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 was sentenced by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz on Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, according to Riverside County District Attorney's spokesman John Hall.
Officers responded at 10:39 p.m. March 29, 2021 to several reports of gunshots in the area of 66434 Fifth St., according to the prosecution's trial brief. The victim, Andres Martinez, was found dead at the scene when officers arrived.
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 reported seeing 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.
