California police said an elder Asian woman lost her life while walking her dogs on Saturday morning in Riverside after a suspect stabbed her multiple times, which investigators are doubtful to call a hate crime.
Several calls were made to Riverside police about a woman suffering from multiple stab wounds on Golden Avenue in the La Sierra neighborhood. The victim, 64-year-old Ke Chief Meng, was seen bleeding from her abdominal area. Authorities transported the woman to the hospital, who later died from her injuries.
Asian Woman Stabbed to Death
Witnesses in the area quickly called police after the woman was stabbed, saying, “a transient woman walking through their yards and appearing suspicious,” authorities said.
Police officers who responded to the reports arrested a woman later identified as 23-year-old Darlene Stephanie Montoya from Monterey Park in Los Angeles County. “When our detectives interviewed the suspect, they didn’t come across anything to suggest she attacked the victim due to her race,” said Riverside Police spokesperson Officer Ryan Railsback.
Authorities said Montoya suddenly attacked the victim who was simply walking her two dogs along Golden Avenue on Saturday morning. The suspect then fled the scene before being arrested by officers.
Police booked Montoya into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of murder, a weapons violation, and being under the influence of an illegal substance. Authorities are holding the suspect without bail, CNN reported.
Montoya was previously arrested on March 30 after attacking a woman using a skateboard near a 91 Freeway overpass shopping strip. She was booked into jail for assault with a deadly weapon. However, officers quickly let her go with a “notice to appear” citation due to an emergency situation amid the pandemic.
