Nearly six years after a confrontation on an Indio street ended with a driver fatally shot and his car crashed into a fence, jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the murder trial of the man accused of pulling the trigger. Miguel Mejia Cazarez, 44, of Indio is charged with first-degree murder and hit-and-run resulting in property damage in the killing of 39-year-old Jose Luis Villegas III of Mecca.
According to KESQ, Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Hawkins is expected to summon prospective juror panels to the Indio courthouse Tuesday to screen them for availability and qualifications. The outlet reported that jury selection is set to begin as the case, first filed in 2021, finally heads toward trial. Cazarez also faces sentencing-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, and he remains held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Benoit Detention Center, as first noted in MyNewsLA.com's report on the case.
Pretrial Motions Reviewed at Larson Justice Center
Judge Hawkins began reviewing pretrial motions submitted by the prosecution and defense the previous week, and that process continued Monday at the Larson Justice Center, the same KESQ report states. It remained unclear whether opening statements might move forward this week, with no word yet from the court on that question, per the station's account.
The case traces back to a shooting that Indio police say occurred shortly before 8 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2021, in the 82000 block of Ocotillo Avenue, according to the same KESQ report. Police said a confrontation broke out between Cazarez and Villegas, and then-police spokesman Ben Guitron said Cazarez allegedly pulled a handgun and opened fire, mortally wounding Villegas.
Wounded Driver Crashed Into a Fence
Guitron said Villegas attempted to drive away after being shot but made it only about a block before crashing into a fence, per the station's account. Villegas died at the scene. The earlier 2021 KESQ report on Cazarez's not-guilty plea stated that Villegas was shot in the 82-000 block of Ocotillo Avenue, down the street from where his vehicle crashed, while a Patch report on the case placed the shooting in the 82-300 block of Ocotillo Avenue; both outlets agreed Villegas was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records from the earlier proceedings show Cazarez, then described as 38 years old, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, according to that same 2021 KESQ report. The outlet reported that Judge Alfonso Fernandez set Cazarez's bail at $1 million at the time and scheduled a felony settlement conference for Jan. 28 at the Larson Justice Center. Accounts of Cazarez's arrest date also differ: the 2021 KESQ report said he was arrested Jan. 12 on suspicion of gunning down Villegas that evening, while Patch reported he was arrested Wednesday, a day after the alleged shooting.
More than five years after the shooting, the case is now moving toward a jury. With pretrial motions still under review and juror screening just getting underway at the Indio courthouse, it remains to be seen how quickly the trial itself will proceed.
