A convicted felon who joined another man in committing a robbery in Perris during which shots were fired at several people was sentenced Friday to 47 years, eight months in state prison.
Daniel Brandon Gonzalez, 23, of Perris was convicted in September of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, two counts of armed robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a loaded gun, in addition to sentence-enhancing gun-use allegations. The Banning jury acquitted him of attempted murder in connection with the March 2024 attack.
During a hearing at the Banning Justice Center Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz imposed the required sentence for most counts, though court records indicated that he suspended terms on several others, which would have added an additional 20 to 30 years behind bars, effectively turning it into life with parole.
Gonzalez’s co-defendant, 24-year-old Ethan Michael Morris of Perris, pleaded guilty in 2024 to grand theft under a pretrial agreement with the District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped two related charges against Morris. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Thompson, the pair confronted several people, whose identities were not disclosed, shortly after 8 p.m. on March 15, 2024, at a business in the 500 block of West Fourth Street, near Park Avenue.
During the encounter, Gonzalez pulled a handgun and demanded money from the victims, then shot at them but missed, authorities said. No one was injured.
The defendants immediately fled the location.
Detectives spent the ensuing days developing leads that ultimately pointed to Gonzalez and Morris as the robbers.
Morris was arrested a few days later after he was summoned to the sheriff’s Perris station for questioning.
A search warrant was served within a week at Gonzalez’s property in the 300 block of West Third Street, where “items of evidentiary value were located, along with three firearms,” Thompson said.
The defendant was arrested without incident.
Court records show Gonzalez had prior convictions for domestic violence and assault, while Morris had a prior for assault resulting in great bodily injury.