Trial date confirmed for Coachella man accused of murder, DUI
A September trial date was set today for a 39-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a traffic collision in the Thermal area that left one man dead and another person seriously injured.
Along with murder, Coachella resident Antonio Tellez Leon is also charged with one felony count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and having a DUI alcohol percentage of 0.08 or more causing bodily injury, according to court records. The defendant is also facing one misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license and sentence-enhancing allegations of causing great bodily injury.
His trial was scheduled for Sept. 3.
Leon pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied the allegations in June 2023 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Deputies from the Thermal sheriff's station responded around 8:15 p.m. June 6, 2023, to the intersection of Avenue 51 and Chiapas Street to a report of a major injury traffic collision, according to Sgt. Tom Anderson of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
The collision involved a gray BMW, allegedly occupied by Tellez, and a blue Toyota Camry occupied by two unidentified people, Sgt. Wendy Brito-Gonzalez of the sheriff's department told City News Service.
"Upon their arrival, deputies found two occupants of one vehicle with major injuries and began life-saving measures; the driver of the second vehicle was uninjured,'' Anderson wrote in a statement. "One of the injured parties succumbed to his injuries at the scene and the other was transported to a local hospital for additional medical treatment.''
The person who died was identified by the Riverside County coroner's office as 21-year-old Jacob Snellings of Coachella.
Tellez allegedly showed signs of impairment and was subsequently arrested, according to Anderson. He was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where was being held on $1 million bail, according to inmate records.
