A 62-year-old parolee who allegedly ran over and killed a pedestrian at a Riverside crosswalk while fleeing from police was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Gene Amos Cunningham of Riverside was arrested Tuesday following a roughly 24-hour investigation by the Riverside Police Department into the death of 42-year Peter Mullis, also of Riverside.
Along with murder, Cunningham is charged with being a prior-strike felon and parole violations.
The defendant, who is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Detective Steve Espinosa, about 11:40 a.m. Monday, officers patrolling the area of La Sierra and Magnolia avenues in west Riverside spotted a motorist — later identified as Cunningham — commit an alleged traffic violation and signaled him to stop.
“The driver initially yielded but fled as officers approached on foot,” Espinosa said. “He traveled eastbound on Magnolia at a high rate of speed.”
Espinosa said that at the intersection of Magnolia and Park Sierra Drive, Mullis entered the marked crosswalk, apparently without noticing the high-speed traffic coming his way. Cunningham plowed into the victim and kept going, Espinosa alleged.
The police spokesman said that the pursuing officers immediately stopped to render aid as the defendant raced away.
Mullis was taken to nearby Kaiser Foundation Hospital, where he died less than an hour later.
The police department’s Major Accident Investigation Team immediately began gathering information that ultimately pointed to Cunningham as the alleged driver.
“Cunningham has two outstanding felony warrants and is on California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation parole for assault with a deadly weapon,” Espinosa said. “He has an extensive criminal history that includes convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm and resisting arrest.”
The parolee was taken into custody without incident near downtown Riverside late Tuesday morning.
If convicted, he would face a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.