A parolee out of prison for barely a week allegedly gunned down a 30-year-old woman during a confrontation in Temecula, authorities said Tuesday.
Rashad Kysim Populus, 28, of Los Angeles was arrested and booked into the Byrd Detention Center on Monday on suspicion of murder and other offenses. Populus is being held without bail.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, at 7:30 a.m. Monday, the suspect was involved in an unspecified dispute with Shaquilah Kaprise Howard at the victim’s apartment in the 28000 block of Colorado Avenue, near Las Haciendas Street.
During the apparent domestic squabble, Populus pulled a handgun and shot Howard at least once, the agency alleged.
Witnesses called 911 and patrol deputies reached the location a short time later, locating the mortally wounded victim in the apartment, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Mendoza.
He said that she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Central Homicide Unit detectives soon identified Populus as the alleged shooter, and he was tracked to a residence on Astoria Place in Oxnard, where he was taken into custody without incident late Monday afternoon.
“Populus had been released on parole on Sept. 24, stemming from a conviction for assault with a firearm,” Mendoza said.
The length of his imprisonment wasn’t disclosed, and no further details were available regarding what might have triggered the alleged attack on Howard, or the relationship between Populus and the victim.