Crime & Safety
3 RivCo Men Plead 'Not Guilty' In Alycia Alexander's Fatal Shooting
The trio, charged with murder and attempted robbery, met up with the victim in 'a DHS drug deal gone wrong' in October of 2017, police say.
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA — Three men accused of robbing and gunning down a 25-year- old Desert Hot Springs woman during a drug transaction re-entered not guilty pleas Wednesday to murder and other charges.
Dimetrius Eugene Lugo, 24, Shyrum Trequell Taylor, 27, and Barry J. Williams Jr., 34, allegedly killed Alycia Alexander in October 2017.
Following a preliminary hearing that concluded Feb. 7 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer found there was sufficient evidence to hold the trio over for trial on one felony count each of murder and attempted robbery along with sentence enhancing allegations of being armed.
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They re-entered not guilty pleas to the charges and denied the allegations Wednesday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
All three defendants are being held in lieu of $1 million bail -- Lugo at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, Taylor at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio and Williams at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
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The alleged attack happened shortly after 10 p.m. Oct. 19, 2017, at Wardman Park, near Eighth Street and Cactus Drive.
According to an arrest warrant declaration prepared by Desert Hot Springs police Detective Christopher Tooth, Alexander allegedly drove two others to the park to meet Lugo and Taylor for a drug deal, but in reality, the defendants had planned in advance to carry out a robbery rather than complete the transaction.
While the two other people were speaking with Lugo, two men allegedly approached Alexander's vehicle, and she sped off. One of the defendants pulled a handgun and fired multiple shots at the fleeing vehicle, striking Alexander and killing her instantly, according to the court papers.
It was unclear who did the shooting.
No one was arrested immediately afterward. However, after a multi-year investigation, the defendants were arrested at different times in 2021.
None of the three have documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
