RIVERSIDE —?The phim sez an doRiverside Police Department issued the following report on April 3 regarding the fatal stabbing of a 64-year-old woman and the arrest of a suspect.
Although the victim was of Asian descent, the police have not characterized the incident as a hate crime.
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This morning just before 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 3, 2021, the City of Riverside’s Public Safety Communications Center received several calls of a woman down on Golden Avenue, just north of Stonewall Drive in the La Sierra neighborhood of Riverside. When Riverside police officers and paramedics with the Riverside Fire Department arrived, they located a woman bleeding from her abdomen area and suffering from stab wounds.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, but unfortunately, succumbed to her injuries and pronounced deceased. The victim has been identified as 64-year-old Ke Chieh Meng of Riverside.
Shortly after, our dispatch center began receiving calls from neighbors reporting a transient woman walking through their yards and appearing suspicious. Officers checked the nearby area and safely detained the woman. She was identified as Darlene Stephanie Montoya, a 23-year-old transient from Monterey Park in Los Angeles County.
Detectives with the Robbery-Homicide Unit, along with specialists from the Forensics Unit, responded and assumed the investigation. They have been assisted by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.
Preliminary investigation revealed Ms. Meng was walking her two small dogs along Golden Avenue this morning when she was randomly confronted and attacked by the transient woman. During the attack, Ms. Meng was stabbed and the suspect fled the scene.
Detectives determined Darlene Montoya was the attacker and placed her under arrest. She was later booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for murder, weapons violation, and suspicion of being under the influence of an illegal substance. She is being held without bail.
This suspect was arrested by Riverside police officers earlier this week on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, after she attacked a woman with a skateboard on Tyler Avenue at the 91 Freeway overpass. Officers arrested and booked Ms. Montoya into jail for assault with a deadly weapon, but due to the current emergency bail schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was released on a “Notice to Appear” citation.
This homicide investigation is continuing and there are no further details to release at this time. Anyone with additional information is urged to contact Detective Dan Mercadefe at (951) 353-7103 or [email protected], or Detective Brett Stennett at (951) 353-7213 or [email protected].
Those wishing to remain anonymous can email [email protected] or utilize the Riverside Police Department’s mobile app “Submit a Tip” feature while referencing report number 210009338.