Menifee Stabbing Victim
MURRIETA (CNS) – A 22-year-old convicted felon accused of fatally stabbing his father at the victim’s Menifee home pleaded not guilty Friday to first-degree murder and other charges.
Samuel James McNeal Jr. of Menifee allegedly killed 53-year-old Samuel McNeal Sr. last month.
Along with murder, the younger McNeal is charged with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and probation violations.
The defendant was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel.
McNeal is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to Menifee police spokesman Chase Coburn, shortly before 4 p.m. on Jan. 19, the defendant was involved in an unspecified confrontation with the victim at his residence in the 27100 block of Comrade Circle, near Copper River Road.
During the encounter, McNeal allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed his father several times in “the upper torso,” then ran away from the location, according to Coburn and court documents.
Witnesses called 911, and Menifee police officers converged on the area, along with county fire department paramedics, who pronounced the elder McNeal dead at the scene.
Coburn said that nearby Boulder Ridge Elementary School was placed on lockdown as a precaution while patrol officers fanned out to look for the probationer, who was found about two hours later on East Heritage Lake Drive, only a block away, where he was taken into custody without incident.
A possible motive for the alleged attack wasn’t disclosed.
According to court records, McNeal has prior convictions for attempted burglary and trespassing.
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