MURRIETA (CNS) – A convicted felon and two of his cohorts accused of
fatally shooting a 35-year-old man while burglarizing his La Cresta home
pleaded not guilty today to first-degree murder and other offenses.
Jose Daniel Aguilar, 29, Enrique Rojas Jr., 37, and Richard Charlie
Smith, 23, are accused of gunning down Andrew Cisneros last month.
Along with murder, all of the men are charged with burglary, robbery
and special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a burglary and
killing during the commission of a robbery. Rojas is additionally charged with
sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
A fourth defendant, 37-year-old Manuel Luna Rico, is charged with
murder, burglary, robbery and the special circumstance allegations. He pleaded
not guilty during a separate arraignment on March 16.
Aguilar, Rojas and Smith were arraigned before Riverside County
Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer, who scheduled a felony settlement
conference for May 11 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
All of the defendants are being held without bail — Aguilar and Rojas
at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, and Rico and Smith at the Byrd
Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to Sgt. Ben Ramirez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s
Department, on the evening of Feb. 26, the defendants allegedly broke into
Cisneros’ residence in the 38000 block of Via Majorca, near Via Baya, just west
of Murrieta. During the break-in, there was a confrontation between the victim
and defendants, who allegedly shot the homeowner several times, Ramirez said.
Witnesses called 911 and patrol deputies and paramedics reached the
outlying location a short time later, unsuccessfully attempting resuscitative
measures, the sergeant said. Cisneros was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives from the Central Homicide Unit initiated an investigation
that ultimately pointed to Aguilar, Rico, Rojas and Smith as the alleged
assailants. Aguilar was the first taken into custody less than a week later,
while his co-defendants were located and arrested without incident two to three
weeks after the deadly shooting.
According to court records, Aguilar has prior convictions for auto
theft, receiving a stolen vehicle, felony evading, being a felon in possession
of an assault weapon and resisting arrest. The other men have no documented
prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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