Man Pleads Not Guilty to Killing Desert Hot Springs Woman

By City News Service

A 26-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering a young woman he allegedly shot and left for dead last week, and who subsequently succumbed to her injuries.

James Daniel Fidler III of Desert Hot Springs already pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of attempted murder, domestic abuse and four counts of willful child cruelty.

The shooting victim, 19-year-old Janette Reyes of Desert Hot Springs, died Monday at a hospital, and prosecutors this morning changed the charge of attempted murder to murder, during a hearing at the Larson Justice Center.

Fidler, being held on $3 million bail, was scheduled to appear in court May 28.

The shooting happened about 2 a.m. May 6 at a home in the 16100 block of Via Quedo in an unincorporated area just south of Desert Hot Springs, sheriff’s spokesman Armando Munoz said.

Fidler turned himself in at the sheriff’s Palm Desert station around 9:50 p.m. May 6, following a daylong manhunt.

Photo courtesy Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept.