Itinerant charged with murder in stabbing of Lake Elsinore man

An itinerant accused of fatally stabbing a 41-year- old Lake Elsinore man during a confrontation in a business center parking lot was charged Wednesday with murder and other offenses.

Steven James Smith, 50, was arrested Saturday night following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.

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Along with murder, Smith is charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon 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 Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Smith allegedly killed Fabian Rodriguez during an attack Saturday in the 31000 block of Riverside Drive , near Lakeshore Drive.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Jarred Bishop, patrol deputies were called to the location, which is surrounded on all sides by venues that share a parking lot, at about 9:30 p.m. to investigate reports of an assault and discovered Rodriguez suffering from "several stab wounds."

Paramedics arrived minutes later and attempted life-saving measures, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Deputies developed suspect information and a direction of travel in which he fled after the stabbing," Bishop said. "The suspect was soon located fleeing into an apartment complex in the 16000 block of Joy Street."

Smith was taken into custody without incident inside the complex at 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

A possible motive for the alleged attack wasn't disclosed, and it was unclear whether Smith and the victim were acquainted.

Court records show the defendant has unresolved misdemeanor cases pending for brandishing a deadly weapon and trespassing.

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