Fatal Beating Of Elderly Woman: Palm Springs Man To Stand Trial

Palm Desert CA

27 April, 2021

12:28 PM

Description

PALM SPRINGS, CA — A 19-year-old probationer accused of fatally beating a 78-year-old Riverside woman during a home invasion robbery must stand trial for first-degree murder and other charges, a judge ruled Monday. Sixto Jesus Garcia Pena of Palm Springs was arrested in January following a Riverside police investigation into the killing of Denise Irene Wong. After a preliminary hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on the murder count, as well as special circumstance allegations of killing in the commission of a robbery, killing in the commission of a burglary and inflicting torture. Koosed scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for May 10 and left Pena held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. Pena was located in mid-January at the Imperial County Jail, where he was awaiting adjudication of an unrelated attempted vehicle theft case, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Riverside police detectives served an arrest warrant there, then transferred him to the downtown Riverside jail. According to Riverside Police Department Officer Ryan Railsback, Pena allegedly killed Wong in her single-story house in the 1200 block of East Manfield Street, near Masters Avenue, on Jan. 6. "Denise was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, friend and a good and kind person," Chief Larry Gonzalez said after Pena's arrest. The victim had been a resident of the city for five decades. Patrol officers were called to Wong's home that evening after her loved ones requested a welfare check because she hadn't responded to phone calls. She was found dead from injuries inflicted a few hours earlier, Railsback said. Railsback said Pena entered the house by breaking out a rear window. "Officers observed some items ... out of place and consistent with a burglary," Railsback said, adding that the victim's car had been stolen. Detectives confirmed the sedan was involved in a hit-and-run collision in Indio a few hours after the alleged break-in. Indio police impounded the abandoned vehicle, and homicide investigators went to the impound yard, collecting evidence from the car that helped them identify Pena as the alleged assailant, Railsback said. Three days later, with the help of the county's Gang Impact Team, they confirmed Pena had been arrested in Imperial County, and arrangements were made for the transfer. According to court records, Pena has prior convictions for child abuse, auto theft and receiving stolen property.