Jose Gabriel Madrigal Vargas was 23 when he was shot and killed in Desert Hot Springs on March 29, 2017, around 8:30 p.m. Officers arriving after multiple reports of shots fired followed a blood trail to a house on the 66100 block of Sixth Street and found Vargas’ body a few houses from where another body had been discovered two days earlier.

Investigators say Orlando Archuleta, 28, of Desert Hot Springs confronted Vargas that night because he believed Vargas had been involved in the earlier death of Freddy Morales. During the confrontation, shots were fired; Vargas was killed and Archuleta suffered a gunshot wound to his elbow. DNA and other forensic evidence placed Archuleta at the scene, though accounts differed about who fired first.

Archuleta was charged in the killing. The case raises questions about the sequence of events during the confrontation and what evidence established intent. If anyone knew Vargas, his movements that evening, or has information about the confrontation on Sixth Street, please share what can help the investigation.