A Riverside County judge sentenced two Perris half-brothers to decades behind bars Friday, October 23, for the carjacking and killing of a 29-year-old Mead Valley man whose pickup truck was stolen and abandoned just minutes after he was shot. Daniel Santos Ambriz received 27 years to life, while Juan Cristoval Ambriz Barra was sentenced to 29 years to life, for the August 2024 death of Jose Eduardo Del Real.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst handed down the sentences at the Riverside Hall of Justice, according to MyNewsLA.com. Ambriz and Barra were convicted in July of first-degree murder, being felons in possession of a loaded firearm, and a special-circumstance allegation of killing during the commission of a robbery, the outlet reported. Ambriz was separately convicted of a sentence-enhancing allegation of intentionally discharging a firearm during a felony, per the same report.
California’s legal definition distinguishes carjacking from ordinary vehicle theft: it requires taking a vehicle from someone’s person or immediate presence, against their will, by force or fear. The Judicial Council’s jury instructions also specify that the intent to take the vehicle must exist before or during the use of force or fear. That distinction is central to the account of Del Real pursuing the stolen truck and being shot. California’s carjacking jury instruction lays out those elements.
A Morning Auto-Theft Spree Turns Deadly
The case traces back to the morning of August 12, 2024, when the outlet's report states Ambriz and Barra went on an auto theft spree, first stealing a GMC pickup from a property in Woodcrest before heading south into Mead Valley. From there, the pair targeted a residence in the 19000 block of Summerwind Trail near Dawes Street, where Barra jumped into Del Real's parked Ford F-450, threw it into gear, and drove off, the account states.
Mead Valley is an unincorporated Riverside County community situated between Woodcrest and Perris, placing the reported route of the thefts and pursuit across nearby communities. The county’s District 1 office describes Mead Valley as a roughly 17-square-mile community with about 20,000 residents. The county’s community profile provides that local context.
Del Real and Juan pursued the stolen truck, while Ambriz followed behind in the stolen GMC, according to the same account. During the chase, Ambriz rear-ended Juan's sedan with the GMC and retrieved a pistol from inside the truck, the report notes. In the area of Cajalco Road and Haines Street, Barra stopped the Ford, and court papers cited in the report state that he shot Del Real multiple times, killing him at the scene while Juan was not hurt.
A Getaway That Lasted Only Minutes
Ambriz and Barra then fled southbound in Del Real's Ford F-450, abandoning the stolen pickup minutes later on the north end of Perris, the report states. Detectives obtained and served arrest warrants for both men less than a month after the killing, and they were taken into custody without incident, according to the account.
The case unfolded amid a statewide decline in vehicle thefts, though those figures measure stolen vehicles generally, not carjackings specifically. The California Highway Patrol counted 176,230 vehicle thefts in 2024, down 13.14% from 2023; its county figures show 6,509 thefts in Riverside County that year, compared with 8,853 in 2023. CHP’s 2024 vehicle-theft fact sheet reports both statewide and county totals.
Court records cited in the report show both men had criminal histories predating the killing. Barra had prior convictions for armed robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, while Ambriz had prior convictions for receiving stolen property and resisting arrest, the outlet reported.
Girlfriend's Role Draws Separate Sentence
A third defendant, Samantha Insley, described in the report as Ambriz's girlfriend from Perris, pleaded guilty in February to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 16 months in state prison. The report also states that Insley had a prior conviction for carjacking of her own.
Beyond the sentencing details and the account of how the carjacking unfolded, the dossier of reporting on the case does not specify what, if anything, the defendants or their attorneys said in court, nor whether either man plans to appeal.
