Hearing Pushed For Man Accused Of Shooting La Quinta Woman

PALM DESERT, CA — A preliminary hearing was pushed back Tuesday for a 28- year-old man accused in the shooting death of a woman who was found dead at a La Quinta mobile home park last year.

Jose Meza of La Quinta is scheduled to return to court at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on March 25, when a judge is expected to determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to proceed to trial on a murder charge.

Deputies conducting a welfare check at 5:51 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2019, found Patricia Cesena, 26, of La Quinta, dead inside a residence in the Dune Palms Mobile Estates in the 46-000 block of Dune Palms Road.

Investigators pinpointed Meza as a suspect, but did not reveal how they linked him to the crime. He was arrested later that morning and booked on suspicion of murder at the Indio jail, where he remains held without bail.

Meza has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, and denied sentence enhancements that included intentional murder and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury.

—City News Service