2014 Fatal Shooting In Coachella Valley: Trial Begins

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA – A 23-year-old man was gunned down in front of his Coachella home by the brother of the victim's on-again, off-again girlfriend, a prosecutor said Monday as the murder trial of the alleged shooter and another man got underway, but defense attorneys maintained the attack was a spontaneous and unplanned act for which the defendants should be facing a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Noel Hernandez and Carlos Martinez, both 22-year-old residents of Palm Desert, are charged in the death of Fabian Martinez, who dated Hernandez's sister at various points in the years preceding his death.

The defendants are accused of attacking Fabian Martinez -- no relation to Carlos Martinez -- outside his Camino Las Brisas home on the night of Oct. 26, 2014, after he got into an argument with Hernandez's sister and refused to let her into his house. Following the argument, Hernandez asked her what was wrong, as her eyes were "welling up with tears," according to Deputy District Attorney Jacob Silva.

Silva alleged that the pair attacked the victim when he exited the home minutes later. Hernandez allegedly put him into a headlock, while his co-defendant allegedly pointed an unspecified metal object -- possibly a screwdriver -- at the victim's throat.

They demanded to know what he'd said to Hernandez's sister, after which Hernandez produced a 9mm handgun and shot the victim in the head, killing him instantly, Silva alleged. Investigators found him lying in the middle of the street and pronounced him dead at the scene.

The prosecutor said Hernandez's sister ran screaming and crying to the victim, but was pulled away by her brother and shepherded into Carlos Martinez's car, which deputies later found abandoned near the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella.

Sheriff's deputies found the gun in bushes near the casino, wrapped in a shirt. Silva said forensics confirmed the gun as the murder weapon, while DNA on the shirt was tied to Hernandez. Footprints in the wash area near the casino were also matched to the defendants and Hernandez's sister, Silva said.

Hernandez's attorney, Mario Rodriguez, said Hernandez was very close with his sister and that her "tumultuous" relationship with the victim affected him greatly. Rodriguez pointed to one specific incident during their relationship, in which Fabian left her alone somewhere following a heated argument. Once alone, Rodriguez said she was sexually assaulted, for which Hernandez held the victim partly responsible.

Rodriguez told the jury that the memory of that incident took hold of Hernandez again on Oct. 26, 2014, with the "anger and humiliation" of what happened to his sister welling up in him upon seeing her suffering again.

Carlos Martinez's attorney, Laura Garcia, said her client had no idea that a shooting was going to take place.

When the shot was fired, it "shocked" Martinez, she said, arguing there was no evidence that he knew his co-defendant had a gun or ever discussed shooting the victim. She also argued that the victim swung at her client during the altercation, which she described as more of a "fight" than an unprovoked attack.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Teens Plead Not Guilty in Coachella Killing
• Two Palm Desert Teens Arrested in Connection to Coachella Murder
• Murder Charges Filed Against Palm Desert Teens
• Teens Ordered to Stand Trial in Coachella Killing

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--City News Service/Photos via Riverside County Sheriff