Orlando Lara, 50, a lifelong Banning resident born in 1975, was found fatally shot late on the night of June 25, 2025, along the upper boundary of the Morongo Reservation in the 47000 block of Morongo Road near Cottonwood Road. Deputies located him shortly before 11 p.m., and Riverside County Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit investigators took over the scene as they worked to piece together his movements that night.

Within a week detectives arrested a 43-year-old Beaumont man, later identified by prosecutors as Robert Eugene Leonard. Court filings and law-enforcement statements say Leonard was booked on a murder charge plus counts alleging he was a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and armed while in possession of controlled substances; prosecutors also added a special-circumstance allegation that the killing was a drive-by and filed gun and great-bodily-injury enhancements. Leonard was ordered held without bail and had initial court appearances scheduled in July.

The community responded with public remembrances and obituaries noting the shock of Lara’s sudden death. Does anyone have information about Lara’s movements on the night of June 25 or the remote stretch of Morongo Road where he was found?