15 July 2024 :
July 10, 2024 - California. Alexis Daniel Rosas sentenced to death
Riverside County jurors have recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering a woman, 18-year-old Makayla Jean Massey, also known as Anita Garcia, because she had seen him shoot someone, prosecutors said Thursday.
A judge will formally impose a sentence on Alexis Daniel Rosas on Aug. 29.
Rosas, 28, and his 1-time girlfriend, 33-year-old Maury Duarte, were convicted of 1st-degree murder on June 17.
Jurors also found true special circumstance allegations of killing a witness to a crime and lying in wait.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Duarte, but the special circumstance allegations open her to a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 30.
According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Massey's boyfriend, identified only as “Abram,” had been at odds with Rosas, a documented member of an Indio street gang, and on June 24, 2019 Rosas shooted Abram in the chest — an act Massey witnessed and detailed to Indio police immediately afterward.
Abram was hospitalized but ultimately recovered from the wound. After the shooting, Massey checked into a Motel 6 in Indio, possibly in an attempt to hide, but Rosas learned of her whereabouts and that she had made contact with police, prompting him to plan her murder, prosecutors said.
In the predawn hours of June 25, 2019, Rosas went to the victim's motel room and persuaded her to come out, then physically restrained her inside a car, which Duarte drove to a vacated ranch, where Rosas shot Makayla five times.
