Carjacking, Shooting Trial Begins, But Defendant Claims He Was Nowhere Near Coachella Crime Scene

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA – A 22-year-old ex-con carjacked and shot an Army reservist in Coachella, a prosecutor said Thursday, while the defendant's attorney claimed his client he was nowhere near the scene and was coerced into a false confession by law enforcement.

Opening statements were delivered Thursday in the trial of Alejandro Flores Magana, who is charged with carjacking, assault with a gun, vehicle theft, receiving stolen property and being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with numerous sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and criminal street gang activity.

Magana is accused of shooting Jasmine Vera, then 19, at 4:22 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2015, while she was waiting outside her aunt's Coachella apartment in the 53500 block of Harrison Street.

Deputy District Attorney Anthony Orlando alleged that Magana, a documented gang member, "did it for the joy of it, and for the respect he would get from his fellow gang members."

Magana allegedly approached the driver's side window, his face masked by a black bandanna, brandished a black pistol and told Vera, a private first class in the U.S. Army Reserves, to "get off the car" before firing a shot through the window, according to court documents. The bullet struck her right hand.

She ran from her attacker, who drove off with her car, according to prosecutors.

Magana was arrested nearly two weeks later at his home. He allegedly admitted the carjacking to sheriff's deputies, but said that he was drunk and high on drugs at the time and described the shooting as accidental, saying he didn't know how the gun went off, court records show.

Magana's attorney, Gregory M. Johnson, said his "so-called confession" only came after repeated claims of innocence, which were rejected by sheriff's deputies interviewing him. Johnson said that deputies told Magana that his DNA had been found inside the victim's car, though this was untrue.

Johnson claimed that Magana cannot read or write, and was handed a confession written by a deputy, which he felt forced to sign.

Johnson also said that he would produce eight witnesses during the trial that could place Magana away from the crime scene during the time of the shooting.

Orlando said that a number of these witnesses, some of whom include Magana's family members, only spoke up regarding his alibi a few weeks prior to the trial.

Magana previously was charged with attempted murder in connection with a 2013 shooting, but that charge was dropped after he pleaded guilty to assault. He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison but was released just over a year later, about two months prior to the alleged carjacking.

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--City News Service/Photo courtesy of the Riverside Sheriff’s Department