Deliberations Start in Trial of Trio Accused of Killing Man over Fake Rape

Jury deliberations began today in the trial of a woman, her father and boyfriend accused of luring a 29-year-old man to a Cathedral City park for an ambush that led to him being fatally stabbed because the woman falsely claimed he had raped her.

Rena Lizette Alaniz, 24, of Thousand Palms, Carlos Antonio Ruiz, 44, of La Quinta, and Andres Moreno, 22, of Cathedral City, are charged with first-degree murder and a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait for the 2020 slaying of Ruben Argentis Mujica of Palm Desert.

Moreno is additionally charged with assault resulting in great bodily injury.

The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Monday, after which jurors went behind closed doors to weigh evidence from the three-week trial. The panel did not reach a verdict Monday and will return to resume deliberations Tuesday.   

Ruiz and Alaniz are being held at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside -- Ruiz without bail, and Alaniz in lieu of $1 million bail. Moreno is being held on $1 million bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, Alaniz first encountered the victim on Aug. 4, 2020, when she was trawling the dating app Tinder. Mujica agreed to a date with the defendant, and the following day, they went back to his house, where ``they drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and engaged in sexual intercourse.''  

The victim took her home the next day, but Alaniz was dissatisfied for unknown reasons. She began texting Mujica that the ``sex was not consensual,'' alleging he raped her while she was under the influence, according to the brief. Mujica denied the allegation, countering that she ``did indeed consent to sex.''   

Court papers alleged that Alaniz had used Tinder in the past to rendezvous with men whom she and others ultimately robbed. Mujica was not robbed.

He maintained that he'd done nothing wrong, but Alaniz remained adamant that he had taken advantage of her and expressed those sentiments to her boyfriend, Moreno, and her father, Ruiz, who had a prior felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter and was notorious for his hair-trigger temper, according to the brief.   

The trio plotted to exact revenge on Mujica based on Alaniz's claims, by ``messing him up'' and stealing his money and car, according to the prosecution.

She contacted Mujica and arranged to meet him at Century Park in Cathedral City after 9 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2020, ostensibly to make peace and further ``discuss the misunderstanding'' between them, the brief said.

The victim and Alaniz met as planned and walked to a gazebo, but after confirming via text that her father and boyfriend had arrived in Ruiz's SUV, the defendant made an excuse to leave the gazebo while Mujica waited for her, according to the brief.

Ruiz and Moreno approached the unsuspecting victim from behind and pounced on him, punching and kicking him to the ground, where he spontaneously yelled that he was ``sorry'' for whatever had motivated the attack.   

Ruiz later told Cathedral City police detectives that ``at hearing the apology, he got angry and began stabbing the victim ... with a (foldable) knife that he carried with him,'' the brief stated.

An autopsy determined the victim was stabbed a total of 30 times -- in the left and right torso, left elbow and left thigh. The knife tore into his heart, left lung, spleen and stomach, the brief said.

The trio fled the park, leaving Mujica bleeding and barely conscious, prosecutors allege. A passer-by walking his dog heard the commotion as the defendants ran away and went to the victim's aid, according to the brief.   

Mujica died less than an hour later at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.  

The ensuing homicide investigation quickly turned to the victim's mobile phone communications, enabling detectives to confirm with whom Mujica had been communicating up to the time of the attack. The defendants were tracked down and taken into custody without incident within a month.

Along with manslaughter, Ruiz has priors for receiving stolen property and burglary.

His daughter and Moreno have no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.