Pretrial motions are scheduled Thursday for a convicted felon accused of first-degree murder in the slaying of a 52-year-old man during a confrontation in Highgrove.
Arnulfo Prado Jr., 37, of Riverside allegedly killed Julio Ortega of Jurupa Valley in 2022.
Along with murder, Prado is charged with felony evading and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Monday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam received evidentiary motions from the prosecution and defense connected with the case, and she scheduled further proceedings for Thursday to resolve a number of issues.
Court minutes show one of the concerns is whether to allow preliminary hearing testimony to be read into the record in the presence of jurors. The testimony would be from a witness who appeared at the hearing in 2023 but has since died. Other unresolved challenges stem from the defendant’s and victim’s prior acts and whether jurors should hear about them.
Pulliam may defer her rulings to a later date, delaying trial proceedings.
Prado is being held on $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Brosche, at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2022, 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 eight hours after the shooting, Brosche said.
He said that 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.
Court records show Prado has a prior conviction for firearm assault, for which he served time in state prison.