A man accused of gunning down a Riverside resident during a confrontation in Highgrove almost 20 years ago was charged Tuesday with murder.
Anthony Silvas Miera, 51, of Spring Valley was arrested Friday following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Cold Case Unit.
Miera, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop, the defendant gunned down 21-year-old Raymond Cardenas in the predawn hours of June 18, 2006, on Citrus Street, near Northgate Street, less than a half-mile south of Interstate 215.
Bishop said there was an unspecified confrontation between the men on the street during which Miera allegedly pulled a gun and opened fire, then fled.
The victim managed to run to a nearby residence and wake the occupants, who called 911.
“Deputies arrived on scene and located … Cardenas, suffering from gunshot wounds,” the sergeant said.
The young man was pronounced dead minutes later by paramedics.
“Although Miera was identified as a suspect (at the time), there was insufficient evidence to charge him, and the case went cold,” Bishop said.
He said the investigation was shelved until Cold Case Unit detectives reopened it in August.
“After conducting additional investigation, the unit developed sufficient evidence to charge Miera,” Bishop said, without providing specifics.
An arrest warrant was served at Miera’s residence, where he was taken into custody without incident Friday.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.