Accused Killer In Banning Clerk's Throat-Slashing Due In Court

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Moreno Valley man is due to appear in court next week to answer to charges of murder following his arrest in a decade-old cold case. Russell Lynwood Austin is accused of killing both a Banning courthouse clerk and their unborn child in 2008.

Erica Johnson was found murdered in her Moreno Valley apartment on on Aug. 31, 2008. Prosecutors say her throat was cut. Her 19-month-old son, clad in a dirty diaper and stained with his mother's blood, was found near the lifeless body.

Austin, who was once Johnson's boyfriend and likely father of her unborn child, quickly came under suspicion in the deaths of Johnson and the 12-week-old fetus, but there was not enough evidence to file charges, according to prosecutors.

"However, in 2014, a DNA 'hit' connected Austin to Johnson’s murder and the crime scene," said John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

The sheriff's Cold Case Unit had reopened the case that year and "submitted numerous items of evidence collected from the original investigation to a laboratory for DNA analysis," sheriff's Sgt. Steve Brosche said.

"Investigators from both offices [the sheriff's department and district attorney's office] began re-interviewing original witnesses and associates of all parties involved," Brosche said of the case in a press statement. "By 2017, investigators learned DNA analysis from a biological swab collected at the scene, matched [Russell]."

Last month, the sheriff's office presented the re-built case to the D.A.'s office for review, the sergeant said.

Then, on Feb. 6, Austin was arrested at his home, according to the D.A.'s office.

Records show he's being held without bail until his arraignment, which is set for next Wednesday, Feb. 21 in Riverside.

He was charged earlier this month with two counts of murder, along with a special circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders and two sentencing enhancements of personal use of a weapon during a felony. He'll be eligible for the death penalty if convicted on all counts.

— City News Service contributed to this report / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department