Reginald Charles Trice, 22, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the March 2022 murder of Michael Moser, a veteran luxury retail executive shot inside a restroom at Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon during an attempted robbery targeting his Rolex. Trice was convicted of murder, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit crime, discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and possessing a firearm while under 30. He also received a firearm-use sentencing enhancement, according to the KESQ.
Moser, a former vice president of U.S. retail at Harry Winston who had also held senior roles at Tiffany & Co., Montblanc and Chanel, stopped at the outlet mall shortly after 6 p.m. on March 24, 2022, to charge his electric vehicle while traveling from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, according to the Coachella Valley Independent. Court papers say Trice identified Moser as someone wearing a Rolex and targeted him with twin brothers Elijah Burt and Emanuel Burt.
According to court documents, Trice and Elijah Burt followed Moser into the mall while Emanuel Burt positioned the getaway Jeep Cherokee. Trice displayed a Glock semiautomatic pistol and demanded the watch before shooting Moser in the chest. Moser was pronounced dead at the scene after sheriff's deputies, fire department paramedics and a security guard attempted life-saving measures.
How Detectives Tracked Down the Getaway Vehicle
Investigators linked the suspects to a gray Jeep Cherokee registered to Trice by reviewing mall surveillance footage, according to KESQ. Cellphone location data and video from nearby businesses helped corroborate the group's movements. Trice, Elijah Burt and Emanuel Burt were longtime friends from Victorville who had traveled to Riverside County together in Trice's Jeep on the day of the killing.
Law enforcement jurisdiction in Cabazon
The outlet area is in unincorporated Cabazon, which is served by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, its Cabazon Station serves the community as part of the mid-county Pass area, including other unincorporated communities around Beaumont and Banning.
Elijah Burt was arrested in Las Vegas and received treatment for a superficial hand wound at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, while Emanuel Burt was also taken into custody there, KESQ reported. Trice was arrested without incident in Victorville on April 21, 2022, after a warrant was obtained and served at his residence, sheriff's spokesperson Ben Ramirez said at the time, per a report from the KESQ. Trice and Emanuel Burt had previously served sentences under supervision of the California Youth Authority for juvenile offenses in San Bernardino County, though the defendants had no documented prior adult felony convictions in Riverside County.
Guilty Pleas for the Burt Brothers
Elijah Burt pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter under a deal with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office and was sentenced on August 8, 2025, to 11 years in state prison, with three additional felony counts dropped as part of the agreement, according to MyNewsLA. Emanuel Burt, who remained in the vehicle while his brother and Trice entered the mall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a crime for positioning the getaway car and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Trice's own trial did not begin until July 2025, more than three years after the killing. The trial lasted nearly two weeks in Riverside Superior Court, and the jury returned a guilty verdict.
A Court System That Kept a Grieving Husband Waiting
The case dragged through repeated continuances between 2022 and 2025 amid a backlog in Riverside County's courts. That backlog carried a devastating cost: Moser's husband, Michael Rudder, who had faced prolonged health struggles, would not live long enough to see the killers face justice.
The March 2022 killing involved an attempted robbery targeting a luxury watch.
Desert Hills Premium Outlets is located in Cabazon near Interstate 10. The mall was the setting for the fatal shooting more than three years ago.
