Man pleads guilty to murder in 2014 Palm Springs crash - The Desert Sun
A 22 year-old Cathedral City man pleaded guilty today to being drunk and high on several drugs when he crashed into a pole and killed two of his passengers in Palm Springs during last year's Labor Day weekend. Jonathan Eduardo Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter for the Aug. 31, 2014 crash that killed Osvaldo Ramirez, 21, of Cathedral City, and 18-year-old Tierra Reagins of Palm Springs. 30, at which time Garcia will be sentenced to at least 15 years to life in prison. In exchange for his guilty plea -- which came on the day a preliminary hearing was scheduled -- prosecutors agreed to drop a second murder charge, and sentence-enhancing allegations for causing great bodily injury and causing a crash with multiple... Garcia was charged with murder because he had a prior DUI conviction for which he was sentenced to probation in 2011. In the latest case, he was arrested last Sept. He posted $75,000 bond the next day, the same day charges were filed. On the day of the crash, Garcia lost control of a 2005 Cadillac CTS while driving north on Gene Autry Trail about 3:15 a. m. The car slammed into a traffic pole at the intersection of Gene Autry and Tachevah Drive, and the impact split the car in... According to a declaration filed in support of an arrest warrant, a police officer smelled a ``strong odor'' of an alcoholic beverage on Garcia, whose speech was slurred. Source: www.desertsun.com
