Transient who fatally stabbed woman as she walked her dogs sentenced

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A transient who fatally stabbed a 64-year-old woman without provocation while the victim was walking her dogs in west Riverside was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison.

Darlene Stephanie Montoya, 28, killed Ke Chieh Meng of Riverside in 2021.   

At the start of trial proceedings Thursday, the prosecution and defense announced a plea agreement had been reached, under which Montoya admitted a charge of second-degree murder. In exchange, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office dropped several sentence-enhancing allegations against the defendant.   

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday afternoon, Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro imposed the sentence required under state law.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, shortly before 7 a.m. on April 3, 2021, Meng was walking her two small pets on Golden Avenue, near Stonewall Drive, when Montoya approached her.

"Ms. Meng ... was randomly confronted and attacked by the suspect,'' Railsback said at the time. "During the attack, Ms. Meng was stabbed, and the suspect fled the scene."  

Witnesses called 911, and paramedics reached the location within a couple of minutes.  

"They (found) the victim bleeding from her abdomen, suffering stab wounds,'' Railsback said.

He said Meng was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where she died roughly an hour later.  

Based on eyewitness accounts and other evidence collected at the scene, Montoya was quickly identified as the assailant, and she was located less than an hour later on Midland Road, where she was taken into custody without a struggle.

Railsback said the defendant, whose last known address was in Monterey Park, hit a woman with a skateboard on Tyler Avenue, under the Riverside (91) Freeway, on March 29, 2021, and was arrested on suspicion of assault. However, within hours of her being booked into jail, she was released due to court-mandated COVID protocols then in place.   

Montoya had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.