A convicted felon accused of gunning down a 52-year-old man during a confrontation in Highgrove pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and other charges.
Arnulfo Prado Jr., 34, of Riverside was arrested in December following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the slaying of Julio Ortega of Jurupa Valley.
Along with murder, Prado is charged with evading arrest and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
He was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 8 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and ordered that the defendant be held on $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
Prado was previously being held on $3 million bail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Brosche, at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 3, Prado and Ortega were involved in an unspecified dispute at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Spring Street.
Brosche alleged that during the confrontation, the defendant pulled a handgun and fatally shot the victim, then fled the location.
A possible motive was not disclosed.
Deputies arrived minutes later and quickly identified Prado as the alleged assailant, culminating in a search that ended in San Jacinto, where the defendant was spotted driving on the east end of the city shortly before midnight, Brosche said.
He said when deputies signaled Prado to stop, he sped away, but the chase ended a short time later in the 400 block of El Dorado Road, where he surrendered without further incident. No one was injured.
According to court records, Prado has a prior conviction for firearm assault and served time in state prison.