A convicted felon accused of gunning down a 55-year-old acquaintance in Wildomar was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Daniel Anthony Grossman, 34, of Brea, in Orange County, was arrested Sunday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the death of Shawn Ripley of Wildomar.
Along with murder, Grossman is charged with being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center, was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s officials, the alleged attack on Ripley occurred just after 2 a.m. Saturday at a residence in the 21000 block of Pecan Street, near Grand Avenue.
Deputies were called to the property to investigate an assault and discovered the victim critically wounded from a single gunshot wound to the upper body, according to an agency statement. He was taken to nearby Inland Valley Medical Center, where he died later that day.
Within 24 hours, Central Homicide Unit detectives identified Grossman as the alleged shooter, though sheriff’s officials did not provide any further details, including a possible motive.
The defendant and victim apparently knew one another.
A search warrant was obtained and served at Grossman’s residence Sunday morning on Carbon Canyon Drive, as well as a separate property in Fullerton, also in Orange County, where alleged evidence was seized.
Grossman was taken into custody without incident at his Brea apartment.
Court records indicated prior convictions in another jurisdiction, but they weren’t listed.