Nearly 10 Years Later, Suspect Arrested, Arraigned In Indio Death

Palm Desert CA

20 October, 2021

1:27 PM

Description

INDIO, CA — An Indio man was behind bars Wednesday after pleading not guilty Monday to charges related to a 2012 shooting that killed an Indio woman and left another man injured. John Paul Cortina, 36, was arrested on Oct. 14 for suspicion of carrying out the shooting in Indio in July 2012, according to Benjamin Guitron, public information officer for the Indio Police Department. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office said Cortina has been charged with one felony count each of murder, attempted murder, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and gun-related sentence-enhancing allegations. Cortina appeared at the Larson justice Center on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to the charges and was scheduled for a felony settlement conference on Oct. 27. He is being held at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on $1 million bail. Indio police officers received a report at around 9:20 p.m. on July 11, 2012 of a shooting at the intersection of Daisy Street and Primrose Avenue and arrived on the scene to find two victims who had been shot, according to Guitron. The female victim, who is identified only as I.D. in court records, was struck in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Information at the time revealed that a suspect was seen fleeing the scene but no further information was available for some time. Years later, investigators identified Cortina as the suspect responsible for the shooting, though how he was identified was not revealed by the police department.