A 31-year-old man suspected in the 2020 fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old man in Cathedral City must stand trial on murder, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Johnny Ramirez of Escondido and 31-year-old Edgar Navez of Desert Hot Springs were each charged with murder along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a weapon during a felony, according to court records.
Following Ramirez’s preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold him to answer on the charge, according to Riverside County District Attorney’s spokesman John Hall. A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for March 20.
Navez is still at large.
Officers responded shortly before 7 p.m. Nov. 23, 2020, to a report of a man down in the area of Avenida Del Yermo and Ramon Road, according to Detective Sgt. Nate Hanley of the Cathedral City Police Department. Upon arrival, they found Ricardo Gallardo of Cathedral City injured.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by Hanley, Gallardo was found with multiple stab wounds to his abdomen area. Gallardo was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where he died, Hanley said.
A homicide investigation began and by August 2023, it was presented to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Two arrest warrants were issued for Ramirez and Navez.
An employee working at a business across the street from the altercation heard the commotion and immediately called to check on his father who was nearby before checking the cameras and seeing two suspects running on Avenida Del Yermo past his business and toward Aliso Road, according to court papers.
The employee then walked out to the street to see what happened and saw a group of people where Gallardo was on the ground, according to Hanley. He also saw a black phone on the sidewalk in front of the business where the two suspects were seen running.
A search warrant for the phone determined it belonged to Navez, Hanley said. On the cell phone, officers found a video that allegedly showed Ramirez driving a vehicle with Navez in the passenger seat eight minutes prior to the homicide. Other videos also allegedly showed Navez and Ramirez posing with handguns and flashing gang signs.
Additionally, a video from Palm Springs Pet Control allegedly caught the suspects chasing down, catching, and attacking Gallardo before fleeing the scene, according to Hanley.
Ramirez was arrested Aug. 8, 2023 in Escondido, in northern San Diego County, according to Hanley. Navez, who is described as a 5-foot-10-inch man weighing 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, has a warrant for his arrest.
According to inmate records, Ramirez was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, where he remains held on $1 million bail.