Murder Conviction Handed Down In Banning Killing

BANNING, CA — A convicted felon was found guilty this month in the shooting death of a 28-year-old Banning man, authorities said.

Jason Anthony Rhine, also known as Jason Valasquez, was accused in last year's slaying of Banning resident Daniel Figueroa. According to Banning police, officers received a call around 8:26 a.m. Jan. 12, 2021, about a man who was shot inside a 1277 N. San Gorgonio Avenue home. When police arrived, they found a man, later identified as Figueroa, dead in the kitchen of the single-family house.

Rhine, 43, of Riverside was identified as the shooter and police tracked him down eight days later.

On April 11, Rhine was found guilty of murder in the first degree with an enhancement of using a firearm, burglary in the first degree with an enhancement of using a firearm and a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.