A 24-year-old woman was convicted on Thursday of first-degree murder and other charges in the 2020 killing of a marijuana dealer at a Riverside apartment complex.[1] A Banning jury found Merlin Perales Ortiz of Yucca Valley guilty of murder, conspiracy and a special-circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery in the slaying of 20-year-old Wesley Flores Miranda, a Honduran national, after deliberating only a few hours.[1] Ortiz is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.[2] She had no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions.[2] Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Mendoza scheduled sentencing for 18 November at the Banning Justice Center, where she is expected to receive life in prison without the possibility of parole.[1]

Prosecutors said Ortiz and her co-defendants were affiliated with a decades-old San Bernardino street gang and had schemed for months to rob “weed” dealers across the region.[1] Prosecutors said Ortiz was the principal planner of the holdup, directing Rodriguez to act as the gunman.[2] The holdup occurred on the night of 8 November 2020 at an apartment leased by Runkle’s girlfriend, identified only as “Star,” in the 5200 block of El Cerrito Drive in Riverside’s Canyon Crest neighborhood, according to a trial brief filed by the district attorney’s office.[2] Surveillance video showed Ortiz meeting Miranda at the door as he carried a backpack; inside, Rodriguez brandished a Glock 9mm handgun at him.[1] When Miranda refused Ortiz’s order in Spanish to hand over the backpack, he was fatally shot in the upper body just outside the doorway, according to the prosecution.[1] The three fled with the backpack, leaving Star to find the dead man and the Riverside police officers who converged on the complex.[1] Her co-defendants, Isaiah Israel Rodriguez and Cristian Alejandro Runkle, both now 23, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to second-degree murder.[1] Rodriguez, who admitted a gun-use enhancement, was sentenced to 25 years to life, and Runkle to 15 years to life.[2]

Four weeks of evidence collection led detectives to identify the defendants, all of whom were taken into custody without incident in San Bernardino County.[1]