At about 7 a.m., sheriff’s say deputies responded to a Walmart store in the 29000 block of Central Avenue in Lake Elsinore, California after a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.
Upon arrival, deputies provided medical aid to a woman but she was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman was identified as 65-year-old Jessica Morales.
Authorities said 29-year-old Lonnie Will Hinton III fled the store after the stabbing but later turned himself in at the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station.
Investigators described the attack as a “random event,” saying there was no interaction between Hinton and Morales before the stabbing.
Hinton was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
He was expected for arraignment Wednesday afternoon, but Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel postponed the hearing to Thursday morning at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
The defendant is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
If convicted as charged, he faces a potential life sentence.
