Stephen Roy McKernan allegedly killed 75-year-old Claire Carsman in 2019.

McKernan is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, inflicting great bodily injury and being in possession of a firearm during a felony.

The case, which has dragged on for years as the defendant experienced health complications, changed attorneys and underwent a lengthy mental competency assessment, was transferred Thursday from the Larson Justice Center in Indio to the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz was due to begin considering motions from the prosecution and defense concerning scheduling, witnesses, evidence and other matters on Thursday afternoon.

There was no immediate word on when jury selection might start. McKernan is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

According to testimony from the defendant’s 2020 preliminary hearing, he had known Carsman and her husband, whose identity was not disclosed, for years, and the couple invited him to stay with them in April 2019.

On the morning of April 22, the victim’s spouse headed to an area casino to gamble, leaving his wife and McKernan alone at the single-story residence in the 300 block of Pico Road, near Zanjero Road.

At some point during the roughly six-hour period in which the man was out, an unknown confrontation occurred between McKernan and the woman, culminating in him allegedly attacking her with a household object, prosecutors said.

Carsman’s husband returned around 6 in the evening to find her dead on the floor from “significant trauma” to the upper body, the Palm Springs Police Department said at the time.

McKernan was still at the property when officers arrived in response to the spouse’s 911 call. The defendant was taken into custody without incident.

A forensic technician testified in the preliminary hearing that blood found on the defendant’s shoes, shirt and pants indicated he was near the victim when she was struck with blunt force, which caused her blood to splatter.

McKernan has no documented felony convictions in Riverside County.

—City News Service

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