HEMET, CA — A 38-year-old Hemet man accused of killing a Hemet woman is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit arrested Brian Jerome Patton on Thursday on suspicion of killing Denise Maria Christina, 56, said Sgt. Rafael Victorio of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Patton is expected to enter a plea to a felony count of murder during an arraignment Monday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, according to inmate records.
Christina died shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday at a residence in the 25000 block of Minorca Street, near Palm Avenue, just south of the Soboba Indian Reservation in an unincorporated area near Hemet, according to a department statement.
Victorio said patrol deputies were called to the location to investigate “a suspicious circumstance” and found the woman “with trauma.” Other details were not disclosed.
Central Homicide Unit detectives were called to the scene and took over the investigation.
Inmate records indicate that Patton was arrested on-site and later booked into the Smith Correctional Facility on suspicion of murder.
Anyone with relevant information regarding the case was encouraged to call Central Homicide Unit Investigator Dimaggio at 951-204-6600 or 760-393- 3283.
