Woman Who Murdered RivCo Woman At Motel Slated For Sentencing Friday

MURRIETA, CA — A 35-year-old Arizona woman who fatally shot another woman without provocation at an Indio motel is slated to be sentenced Friday.

A Murrieta jury in March deliberated one day before finding Carla Sharese Flores guilty in the death of 27-year-old Ashley Brito of Thousand Palms in 2021.

Flores was originally charged with murder, but jurors convicted her of the lesser count of voluntary manslaughter, along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

During Friday's hearing at the Southwest Justice Center, Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Monterosso is expected to hand down a sentence of more than 15 years in state prison.

The defendant is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, on the afternoon of March 31, 2021, Brito was with a friend, Adrian Audevez, at an Indio bar when she met Flores, who was unfamiliar with the area and fell into conversation with Brito.

The bar patrons soon agreed to find a place where they could share narcotics.

They drove in Audevez's Honda sedan to the City Center Motel at 83597 Indio Blvd., where Brito paid for a room, into which they all went, and within a half-hour, began smoking methamphetamine and sharing Xanax tablets, according to court papers.

Audevez later told detectives that as he went to plug his phone charger into a wall socket, he heard a gunshot.

"Audevez saw the victim fall to the floor and saw the defendant holding what appeared to be a black (revolver)," the brief stated. "He said he asked the defendant `Why did you do that?' but she did not answer. Audevez said he ... grabbed his phone and left for his car."

Flores followed close behind him and jumped into the front passenger seat of his Honda without asking, shouting "Go, go, go," according to the narrative.

The witness told police he headed toward Coachella but his car ran out of gas in the area of Avenue 52 and Highway 86, so he got out and started walking toward the nearest service station. The defendant walked in another direction.

Audevez was able to get a ride to the Indio Police Department, where he divulged what happened.

Brito was found dead on the floor of the motel room with a bullet wound to the chest.

Detectives were able to corroborate the details, based largely on security surveillance camera videos from around the motel, the brief said.

Within a month, they confirmed Flores' identity and procured an arrest warrant. They were contacted two days later by El Centro Police Department personnel, who had taken Flores into custody following a disturbance at a motel, where she was found in possession of controlled substances.

Detectives transported her back to Indio for questioning.

"The defendant was very quiet and said little," the prosecution said. "She ... admitted knowing the victim in passing. When detectives confronted her with video surveillance and other evidence, the defendant denied the victim ever did something wrong to her, or hating the victim. She eventually admitted that she ... was the person who shot Brito. The defendant said she found the gun and had been carrying it with her when she traveled to Indio. When asked if the victim did anything to deserve (being shot), the defendant said no."

Flores had no documented prior felony convictions.