A 29-year-old man accused of stabbing another man in Indio in December pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge.
Juan Felipe Hernandez Jr. of Indio was arrested Monday for allegedly killing Montel Robinson at Miles Avenue Park on Dec. 6, according to Indio Police Department Officer Benjamin Guitron.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday charged Hernandez with one felony count of murder, along with sentence-enhancing allegations of using a weapon in commitment of the felony.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty at the Larson Justice Center on Thursday, and a felony settlement conference was scheduled for Jan. 18.
He remains jailed on $1 million bail at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
The Indio Police Department received a report of an assault victim at 5:42 p.m. Dec. 6 at Miles Avenue Park, according to Guitron. Police arrived on the scene to find Robinson with a stab wound. He was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital, where he died.
Investigators identified Hernandez as a suspect and arrested him without incident in the 83-500 block of Indio Boulevard, police said. How he was identified as the suspect was not specified.