A 64-year-old Asian woman was fatally stabbed on Saturday morning while walking her two dogs in Riverside, California.
KTLA-5 reports that police were called to the scene around 7:30 a.m. where they discovered Ke Chieh Meng bleeding on the ground after having been stabbed in the abdomen area. Meng was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Soon after, authorities heard reports that the victim’s neighbors saw a woman, whom they characterized as transient, walking through the neighborhood and appearing to be suspicious. The woman was later spotted and identified to be 23-year-old Darlene Stephanie Montoya, a transient from Monterey Park, California.
After some investigating, officers found that when Meng was walking her dogs, she was “randomly confronted and attacked by the transient woman,” according to a news release from the police. The suspect then stabbed Meng and escaped. Montoya was discovered to be the assailant, and she was subsequently arrested and charged with murder, weapons violation, and suspicion of being under the influence of an illegal substance.
Montaya is being held without bail. She had also been arrested earlier last week after attacking a woman with a skateboard and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. She was later released due to the current emergency bail schedule under COVID-19 guidelines and was given a “Notice to Appear” citation.
Police first said they think Meng’s unfortunate death “was completely random,” later adding that the incident is still being investigated.
