A convicted felon who conspired with a friend to burglarize a Desert Hot Springs house — where the friend was fatally shot by an occupant — was bound for state prison Wednesday to serve a 21-year term after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the fatality.
Nathan “Mason” Alger, 25, of Desert Hot Springs admitted the manslaughter charge Tuesday under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office to avoid a retrial for second-degree murder.
Last June, a Riverside jury found Alger guilty of firearm assault, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and sentence-enhancing allegations of abetting first-degree burglary and using a gun during the commission of a felony. They hung on a murder charge and acquitted him of attempted murder.
During a retrial status hearing Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center, the prosecution and defense informed Superior Court Judge Kristi Hester that a plea deal had been reached under which Alger would admit the lesser count of voluntary manslaughter. Hester certified the terms of the agreement, dismissed the murder charge and imposed the stipulated sentence.
Although it has been legislatively modified in recent years, California’s felony murder rule permits filing homicide charges against a conspirator under certain circumstances when the person’s accomplice is killed by someone else during a crime.
According to a trial brief filed by the DA’s Office, on the night of Nov. 18, 2020, Alger and a man identified in court documents as “Presley B.” planned and carried out a break-in at an acquaintance’s home in the 13700 block of Hacienda Heights Drive.
The homeowner, identified only as “Mr. J,” purportedly owed Presley some money, and the latter enlisted Alger’s assistance in going to collect — at a time when they knew Mr. J would not be at the single-story residence, the brief said.
The defendants were unaware that a man renting a bedroom in the house, identified in documents only as “R.R.,” was inside at the time, playing video games.
After Presley and Alger kicked open the front door, they went directly into Mr. J’s room to search for money and valuables, the defendant later admitted to Desert Hot Springs Police Department detectives. R.R. heard the door being forced open and immediately turned off his game panel and bedroom lights, then listened as the conspirators spoke to one another while walking through the house, according to the brief.
R.R. told police that he armed himself with his Beretta semiautomatic pistol and cautiously exited his room. He went to the owner’s room and spotted two masked men — Alger and Presley — rummaging through drawers. Presley was closer to the doorway and whirled around, pointing a handgun as R.R. asked what the pair were doing, court papers stated.
“R.R. feared for his life and fired two rounds at Presley,” the narrative said. “R.R. felt it was him or Presley, and he did not want to die.”
R.R. retreated to his bedroom after firing at the intruders. He told detectives that he heard the men making their way back to the front door. While still armed with his Beretta, he went to see whether the pair had exited the property.
“He saw Presley near the front door, and he turned toward R.R., with the same firearm pointing at him again,” the document said. “R.R. fired one additional round, striking Presley, who fell to the floor.”
The burglar managed to crawl out onto the lawn. Alger went to the getaway car and retrieved a pump shotgun. The defendant later admitted firing the weapon twice toward the house in an attempt to scare R.R. and give him time to aid Presley. However, Alger was unable to drag the unconscious man to the car. An autopsy later determined Presley was shot twice in the chest and suffered a superficial wound to his back. He died at the scene.
R.R. was not hurt. He was detained for questioning, but after detectives pieced together exactly what had transpired, he was released from custody the same day.
Alger went to a friend for assistance after the deadly break-in, and the man, identified in documents only as “B.L.,” went to police the following day and informed investigators what he knew. B.L. had rented space at his residence to Presley, and the property had an interior security surveillance system. The brief said before the burglars left for Mr. J’s home, they had been recorded discussing their plans. B.L. turned that tape over to detectives.
Alger was arrested without incident several days later. Court documents show he had a prior conviction for burglary.