A Morongo Valley man was sentenced in court last week after pleading guilty to three counts of attempted murder and great bodily injury. Joshua Vasquez, 23, was arrested in August 2020 when deputies were called to the 3700 block of Porter Boulevard in Joshua Tree and found a 24-year-old woman with multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head, as well as stab wounds in various locations on her body. Deputies learned that Vasquez had broken into the home and attacked the woman while she slept, due to a dispute over money. A 49-year-old woman and 46-year-old man in the home attempted to intervene and help the woman, but deputies say they were also attacked by Vasquez. Two victims were taken by Morongo Basin Ambulance to a landing zone and then taken by helicopter to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, the third was taken by ambulance. Vasquez pled guilty in a Joshua Tree courtroom last week to three counts of attempted murder, three counts of great bodily injury, and one count of stalking and was sentenced to nine years for each attempted murder, three years for each count of great bodily injury, and one year for stalking, with some sentences running concurrently. After applying credit of 493 days (429 days actual, 64 days for conduct), Joshua Vasquez will serve approximately 12 years in prison at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
