Authorities arrested a suspect in the killing a 50-year-old man in Banning, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced Saturday.
Deputies responded to a report of a deceased man in the 47000 block of Morongo Road in an unincorporated area near Banning at around 10:50 p.m. Wednesday, according to the RCSD. They found the victim, identified as Orlando Lara, and pronounced him dead at the scene.
The sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit assumed the investigation, and identified 43-year-old Robert Leonard of Beaumont as the suspect. It was unclear what led them to Leonard.
Leonard was arrested Friday through a collaborative effort between the Riverside County District Attorney’s Gang Impact Team and the Riverside Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau’s K-9 Unit. He was booked into the Riverside County Jail, where he was being held without bail on suspicion of murder.
Anyone with additional information was encouraged to contact investigator Manjarrez at 951-955-2777 or investigator Letterly at 760-393- 3502.