A convicted felon accused of fatally stabbing a Mead Valley man during a confrontation at the victim’s property made his initial court appearance Tuesday.
Ruben Altamirano Estrada, 54, was arrested last week following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Estrada is charged with first-degree murder, making criminal threats and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
He appeared Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who appointed him a public defender and scheduled his formal arraignment for Sept. 17 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Estrada is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Thompson, the attack happened just before 7 p.m. Thursday at a property in the 21000 block of Elmwood Street, near Brown Street, in Mead Valley.
Thompson said patrol deputies were sent to investigate reports of an assault and discovered the victim, identified only by his initials, G.A.H., “on the ground, suffering from injuries consistent with stab wounds.”
Paramedics tried resuscitative measures, but the man died at the scene.
Central Homicide Unit detectives took over the investigation and identified Estrada as the alleged perpetrator within a few hours.
They further identified a second victim, a woman identified only as M.L., who was allegedly threatened with death by the defendant, possibly around the time of the attack on G.A.H., according to court papers.
Estrada, who was not injured, was arrested without incident on Elmwood, then booked into the downtown Riverside jail that night.
A specific motive was not disclosed.
Court documents indicated Estrada has multiple prior convictions, but they were not listed.