Trial underway for man accused of murdering mall patron for watch
City News Service
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Prosecution testimony may conclude at the end of the week in the trial of a young man accused of gunning down a shopper at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon with the help of twin brothers, all of whom wanted the victim’s Rolex wristwatch.
Reginald Charles Trice, 21, of Victorville, is charged with first-degree murder, a special-circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations for the 2022 slaying of 66-year-old Michael Moser of Palm Springs.
Trice’s case was transferred last week from the Banning Justice Center to the Riverside Hall of Justice, where a jury had already been seated in the courtroom of Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang. The District Attorney’s Office opened its case Thursday. Jurors were given Friday off and returned to the downtown courthouse Monday, when additional law enforcement witnesses were called.
Before proceedings began, Trice’s co-defendant, 22-year-old Elijah Ray Burt, admitted a charge of voluntary manslaughter under a plea agreement with the prosecution. He had been charged with murder. Burt is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and is due for sentencing on Aug. 8.
Elijah Ray Burt
His twin brother, Emanuel Rick Burt, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
Emanuel Rick Burt
Trice is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
According to a trial brief filed by the D.A.’s office, he was the admitted gunman in the deadly shooting, while the brothers acted as cohorts.
The trio, longtime friends from Victorville, arrived in Riverside County on March 24, 2022, in Trice’s Jeep Cherokee, seeking out targets of opportunity, heading directly to the Cabazon mall in the 48600 block of Seminole Drive, just off of Interstate 10, in the late afternoon, prosecutors said.
Michael Moser, pictured on the far left
Trice allowed Emanuel Burt to drive the SUV, and while they waited at a pedestrian crossing, Moser passed in front of the vehicle, talking on his mobile phone and walking into the mall, according to the brief.
“Trice explained that he saw the victim and thought he was wearing a `Rollie,’ slang for Rolex watch,” court papers stated. “Trice said, `once you see something you like, you get it.'”
He and Elijah Burt jumped out of the Jeep and tailed Moser into the mall, intending to rob him, prosecutors alleged. Emanuel Burt then backed the Jeep into position for a getaway.
Moser went into a restroom, with Trice and Elijah Burt close behind. Once inside, the defendants confronted him, Trice brandishing a Glock semiautomatic pistol and demanding that the victim surrender the Rolex, the brief said.
“Trice said Elijah froze and didn’t help with the attempted robbery,” the narrative said. “The victim started fighting, and Trice had his gun out during the fight, and the gun went off. He said that Elijah got shot in the hand. He said that all the victim had to do was `give it up.”’
Instead, Trice aimed the firearm at Moser’s chest and opened fire, killing him on the spot, the prosecution alleged.
The defendants ran to the Jeep and jumped in, prompting Emanuel Burt to sped away. From the time the men spotted Moser in the parking lot to the point where they fled the location altogether took 90 seconds, the brief said.
A security guard initiated CPR on Moser, and county sheriff’s deputies, then fire department paramedics, attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Elijah Burt went to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for treatment of his superficial hand wound.
Sheriff’s detectives gathered recordings from surveillance video cameras situated throughout the mall, gleaning license plate information for the getaway vehicle, which culminated in revelation of the defendants’ identities. The investigation led to verification of their movements using cell phone data and other security surveillance videos from area gas stations and hotels.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Ben Ramirez said a warrant was obtained and served at Trice’s residence in the 15500 block of Morada Road on April 21, 2022, when he was taken into custody without incident. The brothers were tracked down and arrested in Las Vegas at the end of April 2022.
None of the men had documented prior adult felony convictions in Riverside County. However, Trice and Emanuel Burt served sentences under supervision of the California Youth Authority for unspecified juvenile offenses in San Bernardino County, according to court records.