MURRIETA, CA — A New Jersey man accused of stabbing and fatally wounding a Murrieta resident during an altercation outside an apartment complex was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder.
Gekeith McDuffie, 37, of Jersey City was arrested Thursday night, initially for alleged attempted murder, following an investigation by the Murrieta Police Department.
Along with murder, McDuffie is charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a knife in the commission of a felony.
He's being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center and was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the nearby Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
At 10:30 p.m. Thursday, patrol officers were alerted that a knife-wielding man was chasing another man during a fight outside the Waterstone Apartments at 24850 Hancock Ave., according to police Capt. Spencer Parker.
Before officers arrived, the victim, identified in court documents only as "V.C.," was stabbed, Parker said.
The defendant was ultimately identified as McDuffie.
The captain said an unknown party, possibly a passer-by, loaded V.C. into his vehicle and drove him to the nearest hospital emergency room, dropping him there and then left.
Officers deployed a remote-controlled drone to scour the area where the attack occurred and soon identified the man described by 911 callers as the assailant, according to Parker.
He said that person, McDuffie, was spotted near the north driveway for the apartments, and patrol units were directed to the location, culminating in his uneventful arrest.
V.C. was admitted to intensive care and lingered in a coma until succumbing to his wounds over the July 4 holiday weekend.
"Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the altercation and are seeking any cell phone, surveillance or dash camera footage that may have captured the incident or the movements of those involved before or after the stabbing," Parker said.
The party who transported the victim to the hospital has yet to be identified.
"Detectives believe this individual may have important information regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident," Parker said.
Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact police at 951-970-8965.
McDuffie has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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