A transient who fatally stabbed a 64-year-old woman without provocation while the victim walked her dogs in west Riverside pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.
Darlene Stephanie Montoya, 28, killed Ke Chieh Meng of Riverside in 2021.
At the start of trial proceedings Thursday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the prosecution and defense announced a plea agreement had been reached, under which Montoya admitted the murder count. In exchange, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office agreed to drop sentence-enhancing allegations against the defendant.
Both sides further announced they were ready for sentencing, prompting Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro to schedule a hearing for Friday afternoon at the downtown courthouse. The victim’s loved-ones were expected to attend.
Montoya’s being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, shortly before 7 a.m. on April 3, 2021, Meng was walking her two small pets on Golden Avenue, near Stonewall Drive, when the defendant approached her.
“Ms. Meng … was randomly confronted and attacked by the suspect,” Railsback said at the time. “During the attack, Ms. Meng was stabbed, and the suspect fled the scene.”
Witnesses called 911, and paramedics reached the location within a couple of minutes.
“They (found) the victim bleeding from her abdomen, suffering stab wounds,” Railsback said.
He said Meng was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where she died roughly an hour later.
Based on eyewitness accounts and other evidence collected at the scene, Montoya was quickly identified as the assailant, and she was located less than an hour later on Midland Road, where she was taken into custody without a struggle.
He said the defendant, whose last known address was in Monterey Park, hit a woman with a skateboard on Tyler Avenue, under the Riverside (91) Freeway, on March 29, 2021, and was arrested on suspicion of assault. However, within hours of her being booked into jail, she was released due to court-mandated COVID protocols then in place.
Montoya had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
My condolences to the family of the victim. I find this a sad State of affairs that people are allowed to live on the streets with mental illness and our state and County do nothing to have them evaluated and treated for their conditions. Many homeless are self-medicating suffering from mental illnesses from which they react in non-predictable manners. This poor person was just walking down the street and ended up being murdered I am noticing more and more violent behavior from those living on the streets and still very little proactivity for the line of law enforcement and mental health to require those living on the street to get mental evaluations to at least protect the public.