Three documented gang members who conspired in a series of carjackings in Moreno Valley and Perris that led to shootings were sentenced Friday to varying terms in state prison.
Daquorie Daron Diggs and William Joseph Payne, both 19, along with Markeis Seven Slaughter, 21 — all of Moreno Valley — pleaded guilty in February to carjacking, as well as a sentence-enhancing allegation of perpetrating a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Diggs and Payne also admitted sentence-enhancing gun use allegations.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst sentenced Diggs to 13 years in state prison, while he imposed a term of 16 years, eight months on Payne, and a term of nine years for Slaughter.
The judge in March sentenced a fourth defendant, 21-year-old Deon De Anthony Peeler of Moreno Valley, to nine years under a separate plea agreement in which the young man also admitted carjacking and a sentence-enhancing gang activity allegation.
All of the men were arrested in February 2021 following a sheriff’s investigation that began in the fall of 2020.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Marcuse, the defendants were part of a carjacking ring that targeted motorists in the Perris Valley corridor during November and December 2020. All of the thefts involved brandishing firearms at motorists to force them to hand over their car keys, he said.
Four teenage boys, whose names were withheld because they’re juveniles, were taken into custody prior to the men. One of the teens is charged with attempted murder and is being held at Riverside Juvenile Hall.
The teens’ cases are being handled in Riverside Juvenile Dependency Court.
Marcuse alleged that in two of the carjackings, victims came under fire, and one motorist was shot but survived.
Detectives relied on tips from the public and images captured via the Moreno Valley Citywide Camera System to identify some of the conspirators, according to investigators.
Diggs, Payne, Peeler and Slaughter had no documented prior felony convictions in adult court.