No Bail For Alleged Hemet Killer

Murrieta CA

07 January, 2021

12:57 PM

Description

HEMET, CA — A parolee suspected of fatally shooting a 43-year-old Hemet man during a street confrontation three days after Christmas was being held without bail Thursday. Samuel James Wright, 42, of Hemet was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of murder and parole violations. According to Hemet police Lt. Nathan Miller, the attack happened on the evening of Dec. 28 in the 300 block of North Hamilton Street, near Devonshire Avenue. Miller said Wright got into an argument with the victim — whose identity is still being withheld because police cannot find his family — and allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot the man in the chest. Police arrived soon after, but the assailant was gone. The victim was pronounced dead at Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Initial efforts to locate the perpetrator were unsuccessful, but detectives ultimately determined that Wright and the victim knew one another, and the trail of clues pointed to the convicted felon as the alleged shooter, Miller said. He said the deadly attack may have stemmed from conflict over a mutual love interest. According to police, the suspect has a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.