Man Pleads Guilty to Fatal Stabbing Aboard Bus, Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

INDIO (CNS) – A 43-year-old man who stabbed another man on a bus in Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges and was immediately sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison.

Israel Eduardo Perez of Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count each of voluntary manslaughter and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, according to court records. He also admitted to a sentencing enhancement of using a weapon during a felony.

He was immediately sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison, District Attorney spokesman John Hall told City News Service.

"Our office today orally amended the complaint to add a count 3, voluntary manslaughter, as well as a sentencing enhancement to count 3 … use of a weapon during the commission of a felony." Hall told CNS.

Perez had one felony count of murder dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement.

Officers responded to a disturbance at about 6 p.m. July 29, 2022, in the 66300 block of Mission Lakes Boulevard, where they found a man who had been stabbed on a Sunline bus, according to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department.

First responders attempted to help the victim but he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Perez fled the scene and was arrested the following day about 100 miles away, near El Centro, at the intersection of Keystone Road and Highway 111, according to inmate records.

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