Prosecutor: Man Almost Killed Girl Sitting in Car at Indio Intersection

INDIO (CNS) - The trial of a Thousand Palms man accused of opening fire on a car full of children continues today in Indio.

Vicente Manuel Reyes, 30, of Thousand Palms allegedly perpetrated the

attack in 2018. He's charged with two counts of attempted murder, as well as

sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations and an allegation of

being a prior-strike felon.

``One single moment can change a life,'' Riverside County Deputy

District Attorney Kevin Roeder told jurors in his opening statement Wednesday

at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. ``Two shots were fired, and Ashley was

struck in the head.''

The prosecutor said that on the night of May 20, 2018, the girl was in

a vehicle with other children when Reyes allegedly fired a handgun in her

direction, though it was unclear exactly at what the defendant was aiming.

``Ashley was at the wrong place, at the wrong time,'' Roeder said.

``She survived. She was only 14 years old.''

He said the evidence presented by the District Attorney's Office

``will show that the defendant, Vicente Reyes, is guilty of shooting at a

vehicle and attempted murder.''

The defense declined to deliver an opening statement, likely reserving

the opportunity until later in the trial.

Reyes is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Benoit Detention

Center.

According to the Indio Police Department, the convicted felon fired on

the vehicle as it traveled through the area of John Nobles Avenue and

Monroe Street.

Reyes was on the street at the time. A possible motive for the alleged

attack wasn't disclosed by the police department, which characterized it

only as a ``senseless act of violence.''

Inside the vehicle were the adult driver, whose identity was not

released, along with Ashley, a 13-year-old girl, 5-year-old girl and 15-year-

old boy, whose identities also weren't provided.

Along with Ashley, the driver was nearly struck by the gunfire as well.

The girl was taken to a Coachella Valley trauma center for surgery and

survived, though the long-term impact of the gunshot wound hasn't been

detailed.

Reyes was identified as the alleged assailant three days later and was

arrested without incident in the area of Edom Hill and Varner roads in

Cathedral City.

Court records showed that in 2012, the defendant and two other

juveniles stabbed a boy in the parking lot of an Indio movie theater. Reyes was

prosecuted as an adult and pleaded guilty to felony assault less than a year

later.

He was sentenced to five years in state prison but was paroled in

summer 2017, according to court documents.

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