Felon Convicted
BANNING (CNS) – A convicted felon who joined another man in perpetrating a robbery in Perris during which shots were fired was convicted last Friday of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and other charges.
A Banning jury deliberated less than a day before finding Daniel Brandon Gonzalez, 22, of Perris guilty in the March 2024 attack.
Along with the gun assault count, jurors convicted Gonzalez of two counts of armed robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a loaded gun, in addition to sentence-enhancing gun use allegations. They acquitted him of attempted murder.
The verdicts were announced early Friday afternoon, after the jury had deliberated just a few hours. The prosecution and defense rested Thursday following two days of testimony at the Banning Justice Center.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz scheduled a sentencing hearing for Nov. 13.
Last year, Gonzalez’s co-defendant, 23-year-old Ethan Michael Morris of Perris, pleaded guilty to grand theft under an agreement negotiated with the District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped two related charges against Morris. He was sentenced to six years in state prison.
Gonzalez remains held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Thompson, the pair confronted several people, whose identities were not released, shortly after 8 p.m. on March 15, 2024, at a business in the 500 block of West Fourth Street, near Park Avenue.
During the encounter, Gonzalez pulled a handgun and demanded money from the victims, then shot at them but missed, authorities said. No one was injured.
The defendants immediately fled the location.
Detectives spent the ensuing days developing leads that ultimately pointed to Gonzalez and Morris as the robbers.
A search warrant was served within a week at Gonzalez’s property in the 300 block of West Third Street, where “items of evidentiary value were located, along with three firearms,” Thompson said.
The defendant was taken into custody without incident.
Morris was arrested days earlier after he was questioned by detectives at the sheriff’s Perris station.
Court records show Gonzalez has prior convictions for domestic violence and assault, while Morris had a prior for assault resulting in great bodily injury.
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