A man accused of gunning down a Moreno Valley resident more than two decades ago was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Corey Tajuan Sampson, 45, of Hesperia was arrested Thursday following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Cold Case Unit into the 2004 slaying of 29-year-old Israel Rangel.
Along with murder, Sampson is charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility, was slated to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop, on the night of Sept. 1, 2004, there was an unspecified confrontation between Sampson and Rangel at a property in the 15000 block of Perris Boulevard, near JFK Drive, in Moreno Valley.
During the encounter, the defendant allegedly pulled a gun and fired multiple rounds at the victim, mortally wounding him, then fleeing the location, Bishop said.
The gunfire prompted calls to 911, and Rangel was found unconscious but clinging to life. He was taken to the county hospital, on the east end of the city, where he died a short time later.
Bishop said Sampson “was identified as a suspect” by homicide detectives at the time, “but there was insufficient evidence to file charges, and the case eventually went cold.”
In recent months, the Cold Case Unit began re-examining evidence, resulting in “several leads” that helped uncover previously unknown details on which investigators were able to build a case against Sampson and obtain a warrant for his arrest last week, according to the sergeant.
No other information was disclosed, including a possible motive for the shooting.
Sampson has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.