Cold Case Reopens, Murder Charges Filed In Highway 74/79 Shooting

HEMET, CA — A parolee accused of gunning down a 42-year-old man near a highway junction in Green Acres nearly six years ago was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder and other offenses.

David Louis Starnes, 46, of Hemet was formally arrested Sunday following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Unit investigation into the 2020 slaying of Jabulani Mensa Robinson of Homeland.

Along with murder, Starnes is charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, parole violations and being a prior-strike felon.

The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $2.2 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Jarred Bishop, early on the morning of Sept. 2, 2020, Starnes and Robinson were involved in an unspecified dispute near the junction of Highways 74 and 79. The altercation culminated in the defendant shooting Robinson several times, court documents and Bishop alleged.

He said witnesses stumbled upon the victim's body and called 911.

Bishop said detectives at the time "extensively investigated the incident ... (but) little suspect information was obtained."

The case was reopened several years later after fresh details came to light, culminating in the identification of Starnes as the alleged assailant, Bishop said without elaborating.

Jail records indicated the defendant was booked into the downtown Riverside jail for unspecified acts, possibly parole violations, on July 9. That's where detectives found him Sunday and informed him about the murder allegation.

Court records show he has documented prior convictions for possession of an illegally modified assault rifle and possession of controlled substances.