Young man accused of killing Desert Hot Springs man to stand trial

By City News Service

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the relaxation of payment terms required by conditional use permits granted to four marijuana dispensaries under construction in different parts of Riverside County, enabling the owner of the businesses to postpone satisfying a bill in excess of $1 million.

Sean St. Peter, operator of the Cannabis 21 chain, was the subject of a brief public hearing focused on his operations in the unincorporated communities of Bermuda Dunes, Highgrove, Mead Valley and Winchester.

Following a short presentation by the county Transportation & Land Management Agency, and a word of thanks from St. Peter, the board unanimously authorized modification of the development agreements tied to each of his four outlets, which the board first approved in 2020 and 2021.

The amendments specifically strike a requirement that St. Peter satisfy all the predetermined public benefit payments to the county "prior to the first grading permit or the first building permit" being issued and instead allow him to complete the payments as a "final condition prior to occupancy" of the businesses.

The TLMA had recommended that the board accept the changes.

St. Peter owes the county a total of $444,871 under the development agreement for the Bermuda Dunes operation, $166,109 for the Highgrove location, $180,608 for the Mead Valley dispensary, and $260,454 for the one in Winchester.

The Bermuda Dunes outlet will be a 13,969-squarefoot facility at 39225 Washington St.; the Highgrove business — the first one approved — will be a .33-acre vending site at Center Street and Stephens Avenue; the Mead Valley outlet will be on a 1.27-acre lot in the area of the Cajalco Expressway and Harvill Avenue; and the Winchester shop will be an 8,400-square-foot facility near California Avenue and Highway 74.

TLMA officials said construction and renovations are in progress at several of the locations.

St. Peter did not specify publicly why he sought the changes.

The conditional use permits and development agreements for each are valid for 10 years.

Board Chairman Kevin Jeffries complained last year that most of the dispensaries that the board had authorized in unincorporated areas were behind in construction, and one in Lakeland Village had been entirely abandoned, leaving behind a half-finished structure marred by graffiti and refuse.

Jeffries called for a halt to further permitting of cannabis outlets until the ones approved were further along in development. TLMA officials have not brought any permit proposals forward since.

The county's 2018 Marijuana Comprehensive Regulatory Framework, codified under Ordinance No. 348, provides for steps that prospective businesses must take to be eligible for permits. Safety and health safeguards are part of the regulatory stipulations.

ALa Quinta man will be arraigned next week on a murder charge stemming from the shooting death of a 20-yearold man whose body was found in the open desert of Desert Hot Springs.

At the end of a preliminary hearing Monday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Edward Forstenzer ruled there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Jose Manuel Angel Arellano, 23, on the murder charge. A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for Feb. 16.

Arellano is accused in the slaying of David Joaquin Murrieta of Desert Hot Springs, according to Sgt. Rick Espinoza of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. According to court records, 27-year-old Gabriel "Vago" Magdaleno is also accused in the case, but was charged separately from Arellano with murder and a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury.

According to Espinoza, deputies from the Palm Desert sheriff's station investigating a missing person case discovered human remains on Jan. 21,

2021, in the area of Mission Lakes Boulevard and Little Morongo Road.

Sheriff's Detective Martin Alfaro testified in Arellano's preliminary hearing Monday that Murrieta's body was found with three gunshot wounds -- one entering from the back of his head, one from the left side of his head and one from the right side of his chin -- in a shallow grave under a set of metal springs in the open desert.

Alfaro said Arellano drove from Tijuana, Mexico, to the Palm Desert sheriff's station on Feb. 17, 2021, to tell "his side of the story" and alleged that his friend, Magdaleno, was the one who shot Murrieta on Jan. 14, 2021.

According to Alfaro, Arellano said the trio were at Murrieta's house before they all left in the defendant's truck and drove toward Indio. At some point while Arellano was driving on Intestate 10 approaching Cook Street, Magdaleno and Murrieta began arguing, Alfaro testified.

Both men had guns in their hands during the argument, and Arellano said Magdaleno felt disrespected, according to a declaration in support of Magdaleno's arrest warrant filed by Alfaro.

"Arellano told me that he saw Magdaleno shoot once at victim Murrieta in the back of the head and subsequently saw him shoot him two additional times after," Alfaro testified Monday.

The defendant then drove to the location where they ended up burying Murrieta with a shovel that was in the back of the truck, Alfaro said.

Arellano subsequently went to a house on Sixth Street to get rid of his clothes by burning them before driving his truck to Mexico, Alfaro said.

According to inmate records, Magdaleno was arrested Dec. 13, 2022, and he remains held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on $1 million bail. A declaration in support of his arrest was filed by Alfaro on Aug. 18, 2022, according to court records.

Arellano remains held at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta on $1 million bail.

Arellano does not have any documented felony convictions in Riverside County. Magdaleno pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery in 2014 in Riverside County.