Two men suspected in the murder of a man, who was found dead outside of a vehicle in Whitewater earlier this week, were behind bars Friday.
Daniel Tomas Pacheco, 40, of Whitewater and 48-year-old Juan Reyes of Palm Springs were arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder, according to Sgt. Ben Ramirez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded at 12:46 p.m. Wednesday to a residence in the 15700 block of Country View Road regarding a dead person in a vehicle in the driveway, spokesperson Sgt. Deirdre Vickers told City News Service.
“Upon arrival, deputies searched a large parcel of land and found a deceased male outside near a parked vehicle,” Ramirez wrote in a statement. “The scene was secured, and an investigation began.”
The identity of the deceased person was not released.
The Central Homicide Unit responded to the scene and assumed the investigation, which revealed that the victim was shot at the property, according to Ramirez. Pacheco and Reyes were subsequently identified as suspects in the fatal shooting.
Pacheco was initially detained at the property and later arrested on Thursday, Ramirez said. Reyes was arrested around 2 p.m. Thursday in the 35000 block of East Palm Canyon Road in Palm Springs by members of the Coachella Valley Violent Crimes Gang Task Force and the sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit.
Reyes and Pacheco were both booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where they both remain held, Reyes without bail and Pacheco on $1 million bail, according to court records.
Anyone with information on the fatal shooting was asked to call Investigator Brown with the Palm Desert sheriff’s station at 760-836-1600 or Investigator Munoz with the Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777.