Party Stabbing
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A young man accused of fatally stabbing a 17-year- old boy and injuring another person during a fight at the end of a party in Riverside pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges.
Alexandro Romero, 19, of Eastvale allegedly killed Adrian Coria of Riverside earlier this month outside a house in the 3400 block of Gay Way, near Diana Avenue, on the west end of the city.
Along with murder, Romero is charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon — a knife — in the commission of a felony.
He was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 21 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Romero is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to Officer Ryan Railsback of the Riverside Police Department, just after midnight on March 3, residents on Gay Way called police to report excessive noise from a house where a party attended by close to 100 people, mostly between the ages of 17 and 19, was raging.
“They started shutting the party down after our officers arrived,” Railsback said. “The officers were staying in the area, making sure everyone left safely, when a fight broke out among a group of people.”
The officers did not witness the altercation but were quickly informed that several people had been hurt outside the property, according to the police spokesman.
“The officers found (Coria) and an 18-year-old man stabbed,” he said. “They began life-saving measures on the first victim, but he perished. The second victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.”
Minutes later, police were alerted that a man was suffering from a head injury, lying in front of a home in the area of Crowell and Helena avenues, less than two blocks away from the party house.
Railsback said the injured individual turned out to be the defendant, who was taken to a hospital for treatment, after which he was released. In the interim, an investigation determined that he was the alleged assailant, and he was taken into custody without incident.
The 18-year-old victim, whose identity was not released, has since recovered.
What triggered the altercation was not disclosed, and it was unclear whether Romero knew the victims.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in adult court.
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