2nd Victim Speaks Out After Fatal Lake Elsinore Walmart Stabbing

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — The Wildomar man charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing Monday morning of Lake Elsinore Walmart employee Jessica Morales, 65, had another random victim who is still traumatized over what happened nearly four years ago in Perris.

On Nov. 8, 2020, Arturo Juarez, now 48, was working his shift at Gus Jr., a restaurant at 497 E. 4th Street that specializes in burgers and sandwiches. It was a Sunday evening, and Juarez was cooking in the eatery's kitchen, he said.

He wasn't paying attention when 25-year-old Lonnie Will Hinton III came into the establishment and allegedly stole money from the diner's tips bucket, Juarez recounts. But another Gus Jr. employee did see it, and that worker chased Hinton before catching him and landing a punch to his face.

An enraged Hinton came back to the restaurant and into the kitchen where Juarez was working. Hinton stabbed the cook three times in the back and also caught the victim's left elbow. No one else was hurt.

"He stabbed me. Why me? I never saw him before. I was just doing my job. I was a cook," Juarez said.

Seriously wounded, Juarez was hospitalized, but to this day, he said he still suffers from trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, hypertension, and now diabetes and dire financial problems.

"I used to always have two jobs, now I can't work," he said.

The divorced father of an 11-year-old daughter pauses, then his voice cracks, as he talks about how he can't do the things with his child that he used to and how he can't pay his bills.

"My life was my daughter, my work, and working out," Juarez said. "I don't drink, or smoke or do drugs. Before, my health was good. Now I have a lot of mental and physical problems."

Hinton was arrested in the case, but a charge of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury and a felony enhancement of great bodily injury were both dismissed, and a battery charge was stricken.

Instead, Hinton pleaded guilty and was convicted on one count each of felony robbery and misdemeanor petty theft in the case. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was released on parole earlier this year.

Juarez was notified by authorities of Hinton's release.

"Where is my security?" he wondered. "Where is the security for my daughter?"

As 2024 went on, Juarez followed his doctor's orders regarding exercise to relieve stress. On Tuesday he was working out, while a nearby TV tuned to a local news station broadcast the tragic story of Jessica Morales.

"I was in shock," Juarez said. "The same thing happened to her that happened to me, but she's dead. I saw it was him."

Like Juarez, the Menifee woman was just doing her job. She had arrived for work Monday morning at the Walmart Supercenter at 29260 Central Avenue. At around 7 a.m., she was stabbed to death inside the store.

Hinton, now 29, was Morales' alleged attacker, and the killing was unprovoked, according to authorities.

"This appears to be a random event, and there was no interaction between the suspect and the victim prior to the assault," the sheriff's department said this week.

In addition to first-degree murder, Hinton is also charged with lying in wait in the Morales case. If convicted as charged, he faces life in prison, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Hinton is scheduled for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 8 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. He is currently being held in county jail, and no bail is set for him.

A GoFundMe was established for the Morales family. As of late Wednesday afternoon, the page had raised nearly $18,000.

Juarez is sad for Morales' family, and he's glad her case is receiving so much attention. The tragic story has made national news.

Still, Juarez is navigating frustration, anger and trauma. His case barely caused a blip in the local news cycle.

Juarez sees a psychologist and goes to his doctor appointments, but he says his life is nothing like before the 2020 attack.

"Why?" he wonders aloud, adding, "I want justice for her — and me."