Man charged with killing Aguanga woman, setting fires to cover up crime
A 48-year-old man accused of killing a woman at an Aguanga RV park and setting multiple fires in an attempt to cover up the crime was charged today with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Preston Garrett Young of Aguanga was arrested Tuesday following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
Along with murder, Young is charged with three counts of arson, one count of possession of a zip gun, a special circumstance allegation of perpetrating arson in the commission of a homicide and sentence enhancing allegations of using incendiary devices to ignite fires, as well as allegations of starting fires in an area where a state of emergency exists due to wildfires last summer.
Young, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center, was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, county fire personnel were called to the Jojoba Hills RV Resort on Highway 79, near Rainbow Road, after several fires were reported, including one involving a travel trailer.
Engine crews deployed to the trailer fire, along with a blaze in a storage yard to the west and a spot fire in a nearby ravine.
By 5:45 p.m., firefighters completely contained all of the blazes, which together consumed just over two acres, according to officials at the scene.
While scouring the burned-out trailer, firefighters came upon the body of the victim, identified in court documents only as ``Carol W.''
Central Homicide Unit detectives were immediately alerted and initiated an investigation, Sgt. Lance Stoyer said.
He did not disclose the exact manner of her death, nor a possible motive.
The sergeant said that Young was identified by undisclosed witnesses ``as the subject possibly involved in the fatal fire.''
According to Stoyer, ``information was developed'' that supported the allegations, culminating in an arrest warrant being obtained and served on the defendant Tuesday morning, when he was taken into custody without incident near the intersection of Highways 79 and 371.
Young has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
