A convicted felon accused of fatally stabbing a 51-year-old man during an altercation at a Riverside park last week was charged Monday with murder.
Terrence Anthony Hawkins, 37, was arrested Thursday following a two-day investigation into the death of Brian Byrd of Riverside.
Along with murder, Hawkins is facing sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and committing a crime within five years of parole from state prison.
The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and is slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Riverside police officer Ryan Railsback, the attack happened about 1:25 p.m. last Tuesday at Shamel Park in the 3600 block of Arlington Avenue.
Railsback alleged that Hawkins and Byrd got into an altercation, and the defendant pulled out a knife and thrust it into the victim, then immediately fled the area.
The circumstances behind the confrontation were not disclosed.
Paramedics arrived within a few minutes and attempted life-saving measures on Byrd, but he died at the scene.
Homicide detectives ultimately identified Hawkins as the alleged assailant. He was taken into custody without a struggle at 9:15 a.m. Thursday on Vine Street.
According to court records, he has prior convictions for domestic violence, making criminal threats, resisting arrest and being in possession of a controlled substance.
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