A convicted felon accused of fatally stabbing a 56-year-old woman at a Valle Vista property was charged Monday with murder and other offenses.
Brian Jerome Patton, 38, of Hemet was arrested last week following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the death of Denise Maria Christina.
Along with murder, Patton is charged with animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
The defendant, who is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, was slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s officials, Christina died shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday at a house in the 25000 block of Minorca Street, near Palm Avenue, just south of the Soboba Indian Reservation.
Sgt. Rafael Victorio said patrol deputies were called to the location to investigate “a suspicious circumstance” and found the victim dead.
Central Homicide Unit detectives were summoned and took over the investigation. They procured sufficient evidence for an arrest warrant and took Patton into custody without incident on Thursday morning.
A possible motive for the alleged attack was not disclosed. It was unclear whether or how long the defendant and victim may have been acquainted, and there was no explanation in documents regarding the animal cruelty allegation.
Court records show Patton has prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and carrying a concealed weapon.