Police arrested a suspect in connection to the fatal stabbing Saturday of an Asian American woman who was walking her dogs in Riverside, California.
Police responded to reports of the attack at about 7:30 a.m. local time, a Riverside Police Department spokesman wrote in a news release.
The victim was identified as Ke Chieh Meng, 64, of Riverside. She was found on the ground bleeding from her abdomen after sustaining severe stab wounds, officer Ryan Railsback said.
Meng was taken to a local medical facility where she died due to her wounds.
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After Meng was pronounced dead, neighbor witnesses near the scene told officials about a “transient woman” walking through their yard and acting suspicious, police said.
Authorities later located and detained a woman they identified as Darlene Stephanie Montoya, 23, who is a transient from Monterey Park.
A preliminary investigation revealed Meng was walking her two small dogs on Golden Avenue on Saturday when she was “randomly confronted and attacked by the transient woman,” police said in the news release.
The suspect stabbed Meng and fled the scene, police said.
Detectives determined Montoya was the attacker and arrested her, later booking her into the Robert Presley Detention Center.
She is charged with murder, weapons violation, and suspicion of being under the influence of an illegal substance.
Montoya is being held without bail. Riverside Police said she was arrested once earlier in the week after she attacked a woman with a skateboard.
The earlier incident resulted in Montoya being booked into jail for assault with a deadly weapon. Due to the emergency bail schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic, police said she was released on a “Notice to Appear” citation.
Authorities said they initially believed Saturday’s attack was a random occurrence but later said the incident is still under investigation.
Crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise. They spiked 150% throughout 2020, which coincides with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019, leading some high-profile people, including former President Donald Trump, to call it the “China virus.” An analysis released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found anti-Asian crimes were up 114% in Los Angeles last year.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Riverside Police Department but did not immediately receive a response.
