A parolee suspected of killing a 42-year-old man near a highway junction in Green Acres nearly six years ago was behind bars Monday.
David Louis Starnes, 46, of Hemet, was formally arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Central Homicide Unit investigation into the 2020 slaying of Jabulani Mensa Robinson of Homeland.
Starnes was informed of the allegation while being held at the Robert Presley Jail for an unrelated offense. The suspect is being held without bail.
His case was expected to be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for review Tuesday.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop, early on the morning of Sept. 2, 2020, Starnes and Robinson were involved in an unspecified dispute near the junction of Highways 74 and 79.
The altercation culminated in the suspect inflicting fatal injuries, Bishop alleged.
He said that witnesses stumbled upon the victim’s body and called 911.
An autopsy revealed Robinson’s injuries were consistent with a homicide, according to the sheriff’s spokesman.
Bishop said detectives at the time “extensively investigated the incident … (but) little suspect information was obtained.”
The case was reopened several years later after fresh details came to light, culminating in the identification of Starnes as the alleged assailant, Bishop said.
Jail records indicated the suspect was booked into the downtown Riverside jail for unspecified acts, possibly parole violations, on July 9. That’s where detectives found him Sunday and told him about the murder allegation.
Court records show documented prior convictions for possession of an illegally modified assault rifle and possession of controlled substances.