A Coachella man has been charged in connection with a 2024 homicide following a yearlong investigation, Riverside County Sheriff’s officials announced.

Adrian Martinez, 34, was identified as the suspect in the killing of 58-year-old Juan Sanchez, who was found dead from gunshot injuries inside a Coachella home on Sept. 2, 2024.

Deputies from the Thermal Sheriff’s Station had responded around 5:27 a.m. that morning to reports of shots fired at a residence in the 85400 block of Valley Road. Sanchez was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit took over the case.

Investigators now believe Martinez acted alone. He was already in custody at the Cois Byrd Detention Center on an unrelated matter when prosecutors filed the additional murder charge on Sept. 12, 2025.

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