Corona Man Charged with Killing Friend

A Corona man accused of stabbing a friend to death during an argument over money was charged today with murder.

James Michael Apodaca, 32, surrendered to Corona police on Tuesday in connection with the fatal assault last week on 25-year-old Robert Alexander of Corona.

Along with the murder count, Apodaca faces a sentence-enhancing weapon allegation. He was slated to make his initial court appearance this afternoon.

The defendant, who's being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, was visiting the victim at his apartment in the 1600 block of Via Pacifica in the predawn hours of Nov. 15 when a dispute erupted, according to Corona police Detective James Sears.

He said the men exchanged words over who should pay what for services from a female escort that they found on an Internet site, and the argument escalated to a physical confrontation, the detective said. Both men drew knives, and Alexander was stabbed once in the chest, he said.

Officers were called to the victim's apartment to investigate reports of an assault and found Alexander unconscious and bleeding on the floor. He was pronounced dead at Corona Regional Medical Center an hour later.

According to court records, Apodaca was convicted in 2010 of misdemeanor charges of assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to three years probation, which ended in September.

—City News Service