Murder charges were filed Wednesday against a man and woman accused in the death of a woman who authorities say was killed and dumped on a Coachella roadside to keep her from testifying in a criminal case.
Alexis Daniel Rosas, a 24-year-old San Diego man, and Maury Duarte, a 29-year-old Indio woman, were arrested Monday and entered not guilty pleas Wednesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke Strunksy ordered Rosas held without bail, while Duarte remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors, the unnamed victim “was a witness to a crime who was intentionally killed for the purpose of preventing (her) testimony in a criminal proceeding.”
The victim’s body was discovered in the shoulder of Avenue 53 between Monroe Street and Jackson Street around 6 a.m. June 25. She has been identified, but investigators have so far not been able to locate any of her relatives, and are withholding her name and age until family notification is made, Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Brosche said.
Prosecutors allege Rosas shot the woman, and Duarte harbored and aided him.
Rosas, who faces a sentence enhancing allegation of the personal use of a firearm, is additionally charged with the attempted murder of a man identified only by his first name in the complaint, which does not list the date or any other details of that crime.
Court records show Rosas is also currently facing misdemeanor charges of obstructing an officer, making counterfeit money and identity theft in a separate case.
Both Rosas and Duarte are due back in court for a felony settlement conference on July 15.
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