A 40-year-old man from Homeland remained under arrest Tuesday on suspicion of murder, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced.

Deputies responded to the 31000 block of Neer Street in Homeland around 5:30 p.m. Sunday to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.

Upon arrival, deputies found a man suffering from a gunshot wound in a vehicle. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified as Ryan White, 43, of San Diego County.

Deputies contacted and detained a possible suspect at the scene. The man also required medical attention and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was later identified as Benjamin Velez of Homeland.

Velez was arrested on Monday and booked in to the Riverside County Jail where he was being held on a $1 million bail.

Anyone with additional information was encouraged to contact investigator K. Farag at 951-955-2777.

A Hemet man suspected of killing a 47-year-old woman whose remains were later found stuffed in a vehicle was booked into a Riverside County jail Wednesday following his detention at a San Diego County facility.

Michael Lee Lorence was arrested last week on suspicion of murder for the death of Melanie Conroy of Hemet.

According to Lt. Michael Mouat of the Hemet Police Department, Conroy was reported missing on the afternoon of July 27 from her residence in the 900 block of Mellisa Drive, just north of Fruitvale Avenue.

Mouat said that within a day of her family filing the missing person report, they uncovered “evidence suggesting Melanie’s disappearance was not voluntary.”

Hemet police homicide detectives took over the investigation, and on the afternoon of July 29, they located the victim’s car in the parking lot of a Park & Ride in the city of Vista, according to the lieutenant.

Conroy’s body was found in the trunk.

Detectives soon identified Lorence as the alleged perpetrator and learned that he had already been locked up at a correctional facility in San Diego stemming from an unrelated warrant out of that county.

On Aug. 12, the suspect was formally arrested on suspicion of murder, and Hemet police initiated the process of transferring Lorence from the San Diego County facility to Riverside County, which was completed Wednesday. He was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta at 2:30 p.m. His bail is set at $1 million.

A possible motive for the alleged attack was not disclosed, and authorities did not specify the relationship, if any, between the victim and suspect.

Background information on Lorence was also unavailable.

According to a GoFundMe page created in support of the victim’s family, Conroy leaves behind three children. Donations for the family can be made at www.gofundme.com/f/melanie-beth-conroy.

City News Service contributed to this article.

A San Diego man suspected of supplying two Riverside County residents with lethal doses of fentanyl was arrested this week on suspicion of murder.

Christopher Michael Koppa, 36, was arrested Monday and booked into a Riverside County jail in connection with the 2018 deaths of two men who died a few weeks apart, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Koppa, who was on probation for “several narcotic offenses” at the time of his arrest, was in custody on $1 million bail, according to Riverside County jail records.

The first death occurred on the night of Aug. 25, 2018, in the 22000 block of Hoofbeat Way in Canyon Lake, where deputies found 30-year-old Devahn Reed deceased, according to the sheriff’s department.

The second alleged fentanyl-related death happened on Sept. 11, 2018, when 34-year-old Patrick Schwab was found dead in the 31000 block of Cedarhill Lane in Lake Elsinore.

The specific circumstances behind each fatality, and how the men acquired the fentanyl, allegedly from the suspect, were not disclosed.

–City News Service

A 23-year-old man from Coachella was arrested in connection with the firebombing of a mosque, and remained jailed there on Saturday.

Carl Dial, 23, of Coachella, was arrested Friday night for suspicion of commission of a hate crime, arson, maliciously setting a fire, and second degree burglary, according to county jail records.

Jail officials and sheriff’s deputies on Saturday would not publicly link the Friday night arrest to that day’s firebombing of the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley. But the Los Angeles Times reported the arrest was for that alleged crime.

Dial was booked at the Riverside County jail in Indio, and held in lieu of $150,000 bail. Until Saturday, deputies would say they had detained a “person of interest.”

Worshipper at the mosque said a “Molotov cocktail-like device” was thrown into the building’s reception area at 12:09 p.m. Friday.

Riverside County firefighters quickly contained the fire to the front lobby of the building, but smoke damage lingered throughout the mosque.

No one was injured, though Islamic Society of Coachella Valley President Reymundo Nour said this was likely because the fire happened about an hour before the start of an afternoon prayer session, when more people would have been in the building.

Sheriff’s Deputy Armando Munoz said that the department believes “this is an intentional act potentially resulting in a hate crime.”

A person of interest was “quickly identified” and detained Friday. Sheriff’s deputies were investigating the fire with the assistance of Cal-Fire and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“This is an active, ongoing investigation,” said Munoz. Local elected officials spoke out against the attack and in support of law enforcement efforts to locate the suspect or suspects.

Coachella mayor Steven Hernandez decried the attack and characterized it as antithetical to American values.

“We see this as a cowardly act of vandalism that we will not tolerate in our community,” said Hernandez. “Freedom of religion is one of our core values in this country, so any time we witness violence or vandalism directed at a religious institution, it flies in the face of everything we stand for and believe in as Americans.”

Riverside County 4th District Supervisor John J. Benoit said he was “deeply concerned” about this disturbing fire.

“I want the public to know law enforcement is taking this very seriously. We do not tolerate domestic terrorism in our community. Whoever is responsible will be brought to justice.”

— City News Service