Murder Conviction Upheld For Man Imprisoned For Valley Shooting

COACHELLA, CA — An appeals court Wednesday upheld the first-degree murder conviction of one of two men prosecuted in the killing of a man in Coachella over the sale of a stolen vehicle.

Abel Josue Salome, 34, was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 26 years to life for the killing of Juan Huereca, who was shot in the early morning hours of May 3, 2016.

The appeal court's ruling states that Salome and co-defendant Angel Antonio Delara, 28, were overseeing the sale of a stolen vehicle, which Huereca sought to buy. In the hours before the slaying, they became convinced that Huereca did not actually have money to buy the car and was going to set them up and possibly kill them, so they shot him, according to the ruling.

Salome's attorneys sought to have his conviction vacated on the grounds that statements he made to a sheriff's investigator while detained should not have been admitted to the jury, because he did not properly waive his Miranda rights. Salome's attorneys argued the statements placing him at the crime scene came during a four-hour interrogation with no breaks, food or water, rendering his statements involuntary.

The appellate panel found that Salome was not coerced by investigators to give his statements, and was not threatened or given false promises of leniency "as a reward for any such admission or statement." Investigators simply "pressed defendant to tell the truth, to get this `off his chest,"' according to the ruling.

Delara was also charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter about two weeks before a jury convicted Salome.

— By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock