A young man accused of fatally stabbing a 63-year-old Perris resident in a premeditated attack pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and other charges.
Luis Ernesto Rosas, 19, of Moreno Valley was arrested earlier this month following a two-week investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department into the slaying of Ronald Gargano.
Along with murder, Rosas is charged with a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
He was arraigned Thursday before Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for June 9 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The defendant is being held without bail at the nearby Robert Presley Jail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Kelleher, on the morning of Jan. 18, Gargano was in the area of Foothill Avenue and Nuevo Road, just east of Perris, when he was attacked by a then-unknown person.
The victim was stabbed and left for dead.
Kelleher said passersby discovered Gargano’s remains not long afterward, and when patrol deputies confirmed the nature of his death, the case was turned over to the Central Homicide Unit. Detectives ultimately uncovered evidence pointing to Rosas as the alleged assailant.
No other details were disclosed, including a possible motive.
The defendant was tracked down and taken into custody without incident on Dracaea Avenue in Moreno Valley on Feb. 2.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.