28-year-old man killed in Temecula shooting after intervening in argument

A 28-year-old man was killed in a shooting that also injured two people Sunday night at a Temecula restaurant after he reportedly tried to quell an argument between other patrons.

Desmond Dyas, identified by family Monday, was killed in the incident reported around 10:40 p.m. at the Bank restaurant in Old Town Temecula.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies responded to the business in the 28600 block of Old Town Front Street and found three people who had been shot.

One was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other two people were taken to a hospital. The Sheriff’s Department did not disclose their conditions as of Monday night.

Ceddrick Newton, who raised Dyas as his son, remembered the 28-year-old as a devoted and loving father to his 4-year-old daughter.

“His daughter was his world,” he said. “She loves her dad.”

“I don’t even know how I can look my granddaughter in the face right now, to even fathom to be able to tell her what’s going on,” he said.

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The family, Newton said, has been trying to “keep the faith,” but it has been a struggle as Dyas’ death comes a little over three years after the shooting death of his brother, Ceddrick Newton Jr., in 2018.

Newton Jr., 23, was shot and killed in Hemet in November 2018, the Press-Enterprise reported. Two people were arrested in connection with that shooting.

“We’re not good right now,” Newton said. “We’re not good at all.”

Amanda Lane, co-owner of the Bank, said Dyas was a former employee and was visiting the restaurant Sunday to celebrate a promotion he had received at another restaurant.

Lane was not present during the shooting but said she had reviewed security footage of the event.

Dyas stepped in after “words were exchanged between two people: the shooter and someone else,” she said.

“Desmond actually tried to intervene in the situation and calm everything down,” she said.

The situation seemed to be resolved before the suspect began shooting, she said.

The suspect “was laughing with him, patting him on the back. It seemed fine. And then, I can’t even tell you, like something flipped in his head,” she said. “One second he was hugging Desmond the next second he shot him [multiple] times.”

“He was family,” she said.