Jury returns guilty verdicts in 2019 Palm Springs quadruple murder case

The penalty phase of the trial starts Wednesday. Jurors will recommend whether Jose Larin-Garcia should face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. 

Jurors in the trial of a Cathedral City man accused of gunning down four people in Palm Springs almost precisely four years ago reached a swift decision Monday, returning guilty verdicts after only a few hours of deliberation.

Driving the news: Jose Vladimir Larin-Garcia, 23, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder for the Feb. 3, 2019, deaths of Jacob Montgomery, 19; Juan Duarte Raya, 18; Yuliana Garcia, 17; and Carlos Campos Rivera, 25.

Local reporting and journalism you can count on.

Subscribe to The Palm Springs Post

  • It was the second attempt to convict Larin-Garcia. Jurors in his first trial last March deliberated over seven days but could not reach a verdict. 

  • The new jury was sworn in for the retrial in Indio last September. On Monday, they began deliberating in the morning and reached a verdict before lunch.

Looking back: Prosecutors said Larin-Garcia was sitting in a stopped car with Montgomery, Raya, and Garcia on the night of the killings and first fatally shot Rivera, leaning against the stopped vehicle. 

  • Those three were found in a green Toyota Corolla that crashed at Sunny Dunes and El Placer roads at about 11:40 p.m. The fourth victim — Rivera – was found on a street about a half-mile away.

  • Larin-Garcia was found by Palm Springs police hiding under a vehicle just blocks from the scene of the Corolla crash. He was taken to a local hospital, but left. The following day he was arrested at a bus station in Indio. Prosecutors said he had shaved his head to change his appearance.

Defense attorney John Dolan unsuccessfully tried to point blame for the killing on a 15-year-old male, saying he made incriminating statements and social media posts that amounted to a confession to the killings. 

  • Dolan claimed that it was that person in the car’s back seat and that Larin-Garcia jumped out of the moving vehicle to escape the gunfire.

Next steps: The penalty phase of the trial starts Wednesday. Jurors will recommend whether Larin-Garcia should face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. 

Sign up for news updates.

Receive vital news about our city in your inbox for free every day.

100% local.

The Post was founded by local residents who saw gaps in existing news coverage and believed our community deserved better.

This site uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy.

Scroll to Top