Carjacking Victim Murder Trial
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Prosecution testimony got underway Wednesday in the trial of two convicted felons accused of stealing pickup trucks and gunning down one of the theft victims when he confronted them on a Mead Valley roadway.
Daniel Santos Ambriz, 33, and Juan Cristoval Ambriz Barra, 28, half- brothers from Perris, allegedly killed 29-year-old Jose Eduardo Del Real of Mead Valley in 2024.
Each defendant is charged with first-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm, a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Barra is additionally charged with parole violations, as well as kidnapping in connection with a separate offense.
After more than a month of jury selection, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst seated a panel Tuesday, after which the prosecution and defense delivered opening statements. The prosecution summoned its first witnesses Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Each defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to an arrest warrant declaration filed by detectives with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, on the morning of Aug. 12, 2024, the duo allegedly went on an auto theft spree, first targeting a property in Woodcrest, where they stole a GMC pickup, then headed south into Mead Valley.
Shortly before 9 a.m., they allegedly passed a residence where Del Real’s Ford F-450 pickup was idling in the driveway in the 19000 block of Summerwind Trail, near Dawes Street. The victim was speaking with the homeowner, identified only as “Juan,” near the front of the house according to the affidavit.
The defendants stopped the stolen GMC, and Barra got out of the vehicle and jumped into Del Real’s Ford, throwing it into gear and accelerating away, investigators alleged.
The victim saw it happen, at which point he and Juan got into the latter’s car and sped after the F-450, not realizing that Ambriz was tailing them in the GMC, according to the sheriff’s narrative.
A few blocks away, in the area of Cajalco Road and Haines Street, Barra stopped the Ford, enabling Del Real to get out of his friend’s car and confront the defendant, opening the F-450’s driver’s side door and attempting to pull Barra out the vehicle, according to court papers.
When Juan started to get out of his car to assist Del Real, Ambriz allegedly intentionally rear-ended the man’s sedan, leading to a physical confrontation between Juan and the defendant, the declaration stated.
When Ambriz ran back to the stolen GMC and allegedly grabbed a pistol, Juan retreated to safety, according to investigators. About that time, gunfire erupted next to Del Real’s F-450. Court papers alleged he was shot multiple times by Barra and died at the scene. Juan was not hurt.
According to the declaration, Barra and Ambriz then both fled in the F- 450, racing away southbound. They allegedly abandoned the stolen pickup minutes later on the north end of Perris.
The affidavit alleged that within a day or two, Barra went to an acquaintance’s house and stashed the gun used in the killing — without telling the resident what he was doing. He then allegedly simulated having a pistol under his shirt and directed the resident, identified in court documents only as “H.O.,” to drive him to an intersection three miles away and drop him there. The acquaintance wasn’t injured.
That investigation culminated in detectives identifying Ambriz and Barra in connection with the deadly shooting. Arrest warrants were obtained and served on the pair less than a month later, and they were taken into custody without incident.
Ambriz’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Samantha Insley of Perris, pleaded guilty in February to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 16 months in state prison.
She had a prior conviction for carjacking, while court records also showed Barra has prior convictions for armed robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, and Ambriz has priors for receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.
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