A man accused of gunning down a 31-year-old San Jacinto woman and trying to kill her companion in a premeditated attack almost eight years ago must stand trial for first-degree murder and other charges, a judge ruled Friday.
Daniel Antonio Cortez Acevedo, 28, of San Jacinto allegedly killed Anna Meza for undisclosed reasons in 2017.
Following a preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta on Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel found there was sufficient evidence to bound Acevedo over for trial on the murder count, along with attempted murder, special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait and perpetrating a killing for the benefit of a criminal street gang, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Oct. 21. The defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Martinez said the identity of Meza’s alleged killer required a “lengthy investigation” by Central Homicide Unit detectives.
The victim was walking with a man identified in court documents only as “J.M.” in the 100 block of North Dillon Avenue, near Main Street, on the afternoon of Nov. 12, 2017, when Acevedo allegedly approached them and pulled a .38-caliber pistol, opening fire, according to investigators and prosecutors.
Meza was shot to death in the street. J.M. was not wounded.
The assailant, then unknown, fled the scene.
Investigators initially had little information on the circumstances and asked for the public’s assistance, but few clues surfaced. Martinez did not disclose what detectives uncovered that finally led them to Acevedo, or exactly why he allegedly targeted the victims.
He was taken into custody without incident following a traffic stop in San Jacinto on April 12, 2024.
Court records show the defendant has a prior misdemeanor conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm.