Two Thermal men get prison for Salton Sea shooting

Two Thermal men were sentenced to prison today following their guilty pleas to two counts of attempted murder stemming from a shooting near the Salton Sea

In addition to the attempted murder counts, Jesse Jordan Diaz, 32, entered guilty pleas Friday to two counts of assault with a gun and one count of shooting at a vehicle or dwelling and was sentenced to 18 years in California prison, according to Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Co-defendant Victor Manuel Diaz, 35, pleaded guilty earlier to the same charges and received a seven-year sentence.

Jesse Diaz was arrested on a warrant after being charged in the May 25, 2021, shotgun shooting that left two people in a car wounded in an unincorporated area near the Salton Sea. A motive for the shooting was not released, and the victims were identified only as two adults. The severity of their injuries was not disclosed.

Jesse Diaz was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, while Victor Diaz was being held on $1 million. It was unclear if the men are related.   

As part of his plea deal, Jesse Diaz had gun and great bodily injury sentence-enhancing allegations stricken, but had another enhancement found true as a documented gang member. Court records show he has a prior felony conviction for robbery.

Victor Diaz has no previous documented felony convictions in Riverside County, though he was in the midst of a three-year probation term stemming from a 2020 misdemeanor vehicle theft conviction at the time of the May 2021 arrest, court records show.