Woman Accused In Theft Of Child's Ashes To Be Arraigned

INDIO, CA — A woman suspected in a break-in at an Indio storage unit, where items were stolen including the ashes of the victim's deceased son, is set to be arraigned Thursday on felony charges.

Taylor Spencer, 31, of Thousand Palms is charged with one felony count each of burglary and receiving stolen property, according to court records. She's set to be arraigned on the charges Thursday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Wally Venecia, 43, of Indio, and 54-year-old Victor Banuelos of La Quinta pleaded not guilty earlier this year to one felony count of receiving stolen property. Banuelos additionally pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm and one felony count each of possessing controlled substances while armed and possessing ammunition.

Juan Carlos Molina of Indio, 36, pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to one felony count of burglary and was immediately granted one year of supervised release, according to court records.

Venecia's next court appearance was set for Thursday and Banuelos will next appear in court Jan. 3, 2024.

The burglary occurred on Nov. 7 or Nov. 8 at Prime Storage in the 42900 block of Madison Street, according to the Indio Police Department. Detectives pursued multiple leads over the following days, during which two traffic stops and a search warrant led them to arrest Molina.

Detectives then allegedly found some of the victim's belongings at a Bermuda Dunes motel. A search warrant was subsequently served in Palm Desert, where Banuelos was arrested for allegedly having a large amount of the victim's property, an assault weapon, additional handguns and 1 1/3 pounds of methamphetamine for sale.

He was arrested Nov. 10 and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, but was released Nov. 16.

"Due to the continuing investigation, the child's ashes were dropped off at Cal Fire Station No. 81 (in Palm Desert)," police said. "Detectives quickly responded to the fire station and contacted the Riverside County Coroner, who was in possession of the ashes of the victim's child."

The ashes were delivered to the family, and two additional suspects -- Venecia and Spencer -- were subsequently found and arrested Nov. 13 in Coachella, according to police.

Spencer was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, but was released the next day on a $10,000 bail bond, according to inmate records. Venecia was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center, but was subsequently released on a $50,000 bail bond.

Anyone with additional information on the burglary was asked to call Detective Andres Meraz at 760-541-4120 or Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867.