On the evening of December 28, 2025, 34-year-old Francisco Lemus was found inside a vehicle in the 66000 block of Avenida Cadena in Desert Hot Springs, California, with gunshot wounds. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene shortly after 7:30 p.m. Authorities say an unspecified confrontation took place between Lemus and another person while Lemus was in his vehicle, and the encounter ended with fatal shots being fired.

Desert Hot Springs police identified 19-year-old Michael Alex Dodd of Lancaster as a suspect. Dodd was arrested in Lancaster on December 30 and booked into the Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of murder. He was charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing allegations for use of a gun and causing great bodily injury, entered a plea of not guilty at arraignment, and is being held on $2 million bail. Officials say there are no outstanding suspects; the motive remains unclear.

Did anyone in Desert Hot Springs or Lancaster see anything that night or have information about a confrontation on Avenida Cadena?