Felony charges are expected to be filed Wednesday against an itinerant suspected of fatally stabbing a 41-year-old Lake Elsinore man during a confrontation in a business center parking lot.
Steven James Smith, 50, was arrested and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta over the weekend on suspicion of murder.
Smith is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
His case was under review Tuesday by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Smith allegedly killed Fabian Rodriguez during an attack Saturday in the 31000 block of Riverside Drive, near Lakeshore Drive.
According to Sgt. Jarred Bishop of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, patrol deputies were called to the location, which is surrounded on all sides by venues that share a parking lot, at about 9:30 p.m. to investigate reports of an assault and discovered Rodriguez suffering from “several stab wounds.”
Paramedics arrived minutes later and attempted life-saving measures, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Deputies developed suspect information and a direction of travel in which he fled after the stabbing,” Bishop said. “The suspect was soon located fleeing into an apartment complex in the 16000 block of Joy Street.”
Smith was taken into custody without incident inside the complex at 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
A possible motive for the alleged attack wasn’t disclosed, and it was unclear whether Smith and the victim were acquainted.
Jail records indicate that Smith has unresolved misdemeanor cases pending for trespassing and possession of drug paraphernalia.