Deliberations Begin in Trial of Woman Accused of Murdering Indio Motel Guest

MURRIETA (CNS) - Jury deliberations began Monday in the trial of a 35-

year-old Arizona woman accused in an unprovoked deadly shooting at an Indio

motel.

Carla Sharese Flores allegedly killed 27-year-old Ashley Brito of

Thousand Palms at the City Center Motel in 2021.

Flores is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing gun

and great bodily injury allegations.

The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments Monday

afternoon, after which jurors went behind closed doors briefly to begin

weighing evidence from the nearly weeklong trial at the Southwest Justice

Center in Murrieta. Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Monterosso

directed them to resume deliberations Tuesday morning.

Flores was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith

Correctional Facility.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, on

the afternoon of March 31, 2021, Brito was with a friend, Adrian Audevez,

at an Indio bar when she met Flores, who was unfamiliar with the area and fell

into conversation with Brito.

As the parties sat drinking, they agreed to find a place where they

could share narcotics, the brief said.

They drove in Audevez's Honda sedan to the motel at 83597 Indio Blvd.,

where Brito paid for a room, into which they all went, and within a half-

hour, began smoking methamphetamine and sharing Xanax tablets, according to

court papers.

Audevez later told detectives that as he went to plug his phone

charger into a wall socket, he heard a gunshot.

   ``Audevez saw the victim fall to the floor and saw the defendant

holding what appeared to be a black (revolver),'' the brief stated. ``He said

he asked the defendant `why did you do that,' but she did not answer. Audevez

said he was scared, so he grabbed his phone and left for his car.''

Flores followed close behind him and jumped into the front passenger

seat of his Honda without asking, shouting ``Go, go, go,'' according to the

narrative.

 The witness told police he headed toward Coachella but his car ran out

of gas in the area of Avenue 52 and Highway 86, so he got out and started

walking toward the nearest service station. The defendant walked in another

direction.

Audevez was able to get a ride to the Indio Police Department, where

he divulged what allegedly happened.

Brito was found dead on the floor of the motel room with a bullet

wound to the chest.

Detectives were able to corroborate the details, based largely on

security surveillance camera videos from around the motel, the brief said.

Within a month, they confirmed Flores' identity and procured an arrest

warrant. They were contacted two days later by El Centro Police Department

personnel, who had taken Flores into custody following a disturbance at a

motel, where she was found in possession of controlled substances, according to

court papers.

Detectives transported her back to Indio, where she agreed to answer

questions.

``The defendant was very quiet and said little,'' the prosecution

said. ``She ... admitted knowing the victim in passing. When detectives

confronted her with video surveillance and other evidence, the defendant denied

the victim ever did something wrong to her, or hating the victim. She

eventually admitted that she ... was the person who shot Brito. The defendant

said she found the gun and had been carrying it with her when she traveled to

Indio. When asked if the victim did anything to deserve (being shot), the

defendant said no.''

Flores has no documented prior felony convictions in California.

If convicted, she'd face a prospective mandatory minimum sentence of

50 years to life in state prison.

Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.