Ex-Con Charged with Killing Woman, Teenager in Moreno Valley

RIVERSIDE - An ex-con suspected of gunning down a woman and teenage boy in a Moreno Valley home was charged today with first-degree murder and other felonies.

Rufus Hodges, 48, of Moreno Valley was arrested Friday for allegedly killing 37-year-old Chelsea Crisp and a 15-year-old boy at a house in the 24000 block of Myers Avenue.

Along with two counts of first-degree murder, Hodges is charged with burglary, child endangerment, assault with a deadly weapon and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

A special circumstance allegation of taking multiple lives during the same offense makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

He's slated to make his initial court appearance this afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Riverside County sheriff's investigators discovered Crisp and the boy, whose identity has still not been released, shortly before 5 a.m. Friday after responding to calls of a man with a gun. Both victims had been shot.

Crisp was pronounced dead at the scene. The teenager died at Riverside County Regional Medical Center about 30 minutes after arrival.

Sheriff's officials have not released any details regarding a possible motive or circumstances behind the attack.

According to jail records, Hodges was arrested around 10 a.m. Friday in the 25200 block of Alessandro Boulevard, near Lasselle Street. He was booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, where he's being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to court records, the defendant has a prior conviction in Riverside County for selling cocaine, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison in 1996.