By SDCN Editor
Murrieta, CA–The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against a Wildomar man for the murder of a 65-year-old woman at her workplace at a Walmart in Lake Elsinore.
Lonnie Will Hinton III, 29, has been charged with one count of murder as well as lying in wait. If convicted as currently charged, he faces a potential life sentence.
Hinton has a prior strike conviction and was on parole at the time of the alleged murder. In 2021, he pled guilty to felony robbery and misdemeanor petty theft charges. He was sentenced to five years and released on parole earlier this year.
Hinton made his first court appearance for arraignment on Thursday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
He was charged with the murder of Jessica Morales, 65. The fatal stabbing occurred on the morning of Aug. 5. Her body was found by deputies from the Lake Elsinore Sheriff Station, who responded to a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon at the Walmart at 29260 Central Ave. Deputies provided medical aid at the scene until medical personnel arrived, but Morales was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hinton fled the crime scene but later turned himself in at the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station.
Homicide investigators believe that this appears to be a random event and there was no interaction between Hinton and the victim before she was killed. Hinton was on active parole at the time of this crime.
The investigation is ongoing, and no further information has been released.
