The prosecution is expected to conclude by Friday in the trial of a man charged with the murder of his 27-year-old girlfriend and her unborn child during an altercation at their residence in San Jacinto, California. Angel Martine McIntire, 29, from Beaumont, was taken into custody in 2022 following an almost two-year investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department into the disappearance of Diana Perez Gonzalez.
McIntire faces two counts of first-degree murder, along with special circumstance allegations related to taking multiple lives. Testimony commenced last week, with the prosecution likely to call its final witness either Thursday or Friday at the Banning Justice Center. McIntire is currently held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, McIntire and Gonzalez had a tumultuous relationship that began in August 2018, approximately two years after her arrival in the United States from Mexico. The couple moved in together, but within a year, McIntire became abusive. Gonzalez, pregnant with their daughter, obtained a restraining order against him and moved out of their shared residence in December 2019.
Despite the domestic violence conviction against McIntire, due to their child, the couple continued to communicate, leading to Gonzalez’s decision to allow McIntire back into her home on Crooked Branch Way in the fall of 2020.
Gonzalez, employed at Taco Hut, and McIntire, unemployed, co-parented their daughter during this period. Gonzalez became pregnant with their second child during this time, leading to further discord, with McIntire reportedly becoming physically abusive again. On December 4, 2020, when Gonzalez was eight weeks pregnant, investigators believe McIntire attacked her, causing fatal injuries.
Detectives traced McIntire’s movements that day through mobile phone signals and social media activity, leading them to locations in Cherry Valley, Beaumont, Gilman Springs, Aguanga, Cahuilla, Palm Desert, and back to their residence.
During this time, he dropped off his and Gonzalez’s daughter at his mother’s residence in Beaumont, claiming ignorance about Gonzalez’s whereabouts. Despite McIntire’s assertions to detectives and Gonzalez’s relatives that he had no knowledge of her location, detectives suspected foul play, given their history of domestic abuse.
Read More News:
- California: Oasis Mobile Home Park Residents Reach Settlement Over Water and Habitability Issues
- Legal Storms: Trump’s Trials in New York and the Indignant Prosecutor in Georgia
- Leap Day Legacy: St. Petersburg’s Founding on February 29, 1892
By October 2022, detectives had gathered enough circumstantial evidence to secure an arrest warrant for McIntire, who reportedly laughed when informed of the charges and evidence against him. The search for Gonzalez’s body continues. McIntire has a prior conviction for illegal possession of a loaded firearm in public, in addition to domestic violence charges.