A parolee who allegedly stabbed a man to death in Desert Hot Springs last year must stand trial on a murder charge, a judge ruled Friday.
Joseph Arrez, 38, is charged in the slaying of 37-year-old Edwin Carreto, whose body was found at 10:35 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2017, in the 66500 block of Fourth Street. Arrez was taken into custody the following day somewhere on Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs, jail records show.
Police said the stabbing occurred after the two men, who “personally knew each other,” got into “a verbal altercation.”
Arrez, who remains in custody in lieu of $1.16 million bail, is slated to return to court Jan. 8 for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment.
Arrez previously was imprisoned for the 2011 slaying of an Ontario resident during a carjacking outside the victim’s home.
Arrez and co-defendant Jon Flores were prosecuted for the Easter Sunday killing of Gregory Johnson, 59, who was dumped in an alley after being shot inside his SUV, which was found abandoned less than four miles from where his body was found.
Arrez pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2014 and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison, according to San Bernardino County District Attorney’s spokesman Christopher Lee. It was unclear when Arrez was released from prison.
Flores, a gang member and felon, was convicted in 2016 of murder, carjacking and assault with a firearm and sentenced to 143 years to life behind bars. Flores had just gotten out of prison and committed the killing to get his gang, which had gone dormant during his prior prison stint, “up and running again,” according to court documents.
