Suspect in 2020 Riverside County highway homicide already in custody for different crime, deputies say

Riverside County authorities on Monday announced that the suspect in a deadly 2020 incident on Highway 74 near Hemet was already in custody for a different crime. 

The incident happened back on September 2, 2020, at around 8:30 a.m., when deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff's Office's Perris Station were called to Highway 74, just west of Highway 79 in the unincorporated community called Green Acres for reports of a man down, according to a news release. 

At the time, the victim, identified as 42-year-old Homeland resident Jabulani Mensa Robinson, was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering from "injuries sustained during an altercation" with the suspect. 

Now, nearly six years after investigators "extensively investigated" Robinson's death, which ultimately resulted in the case going cold, investigators said that they have finally identified the suspect as 46-year-old Hemet man David Starnes. 

"It was learned Starnes was in custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on an unrelated case," the release said. 

Starnes was transported to the custody of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in July, and on Sunday, Aug. 2, he was arrested for murder.

No further information was provided, and deputies did not say why Starnes was already in custody. 

Anyone who knows more was asked to contact RSO Master Investigator at 951-955-2777.