04 December 2017 :

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon imposed a death sentence on Raymond Alex Barrera, 27, Hispanic, a gang member who once was a police informant before he fatally shot 3 men and tried to kill another because of their affiliations. Barrera had been convicted in September of 3 murders that occurred during the early summer of 2013. On October 27, 2017 the same Riverside County jury that found Barrera guilty of the offenses recommended that he receive capital punishment, and Judge Gallon today followed that recommendation. The defendant, an admitted member of San Ja, the San Jacinto Valley's oldest street gang, was with his girlfriend, now-24-year-old Tawpash Paillia Durnin, during the killings. Durnin pleaded guilty last year to 3 counts of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced on Nov. 3 to 26 years in state prison. The defendant's 1st victim was Juan "Spooks" Perez, on the night of June 27, 2013. The defendant's next target was a supposed police informant, Jose "Flaco" Venegas, gunned down on June 30, 2013. The 3rd and final murder victim was Ruben "Toker" Zavala, a member of "Hemet 13," on July 8, 2013.