Man admits aiding brother in trying to cover up Moreno Valley girl’s death

A man who aided his younger brother in trying to cover up the alleged killing of a 16-year-old Moreno Valley girl pleaded guilty today to being an accessory after the fact and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail.   

Gary Anthony Shover, 27, of Hesperia admitted the felony count under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Shover was originally charged with first-degree murder and a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait, but after a 2022 preliminary hearing, a judge dismissed those counts, and the accessory charge was substituted for him alone.   

In addition to a year in county jail, Superior Court Judge John Molloy ordered Shover to serve 12 months of probation and pay victim restitution, in an amount to be determined later by the Department of Probation.   

The defendant's brother, 23-year-old Owen Skyler Shover, also of Hesperia, is charged with murder and the special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait for the alleged slaying of Aranda Briones in 2019.

He is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and trial proceedings for him are slated to begin on April 25 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

According to sheriff's officials, the brothers were identified as suspects in Briones' disappearance and death following a weeks-long investigation that ended in February 2019, when the siblings were taken
custody without incident at their residence on Grevillea Street, near Old Ranch Road.

Briones was last seen on Jan. 13, 2019, in Moreno Valley Community Park, at the intersection of Cottonwood Avenue and Frederick Street, where she had been visiting with friends and relatives.

Sheriff's Lt. Chris Durham said at the time that Owen Shover, a friend of Briones from Moreno Valley High School, was the last person to have seen her alive.

Durham said investigators spoke to Shover, who allegedly claimed he had dropped Briones at the park, where she was picked up by somebody in a four-door sedan. But Durham said that video images from surveillance cameras in the area conflicted with Shover's story.

"The camera system was reviewed, and ultimately it destroyed the timeline he provided,'' Durham said.

A neighbor of the Shovers told reporters in February 2019 that she observed investigators digging in the backyard of the brothers' home, where they unearthed clothing and blankets.

"Evidence was collected that confirmed ... Miss Briones was the victim of a homicide and points at these two brothers,'' Durham said.   

A possible motive for the alleged slaying was not disclosed.   

In the weeks following her disappearance, the victim's loved ones distributed flyers throughout the city and surrounding locations bearing her photograph and other information. However, detectives have still not determined where her remains might be located.

Gary Shover had no documented prior felony convictions. His brother also has no criminal history.