Moreno Valley man denies killing girlfriend, their unborn child almost a decade ago

A 34-year-old Moreno Valley man accused of fatally slashing his girlfriend and taking the life of her unborn child more than a decade ago pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree murder charges.

Russell Lynwood Austin also faces a special circumstance allegation of taking multiple lives. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue the death penalty for the defendant, who is charged with the deaths of 25-year-old Erica Johnson of Moreno Valley and her fetus.

The defendant, who is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Emma Smith, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 31 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Johnson was attacked in her apartment in the 23000 block of Bay Avenue on Aug. 29, 2008. Her throat was slashed, and she died on the floor.

The court clerk’s 19-month-old son was in the apartment but not harmed. He was found next to his mother two days later, wearing a dirty diaper and stained with her blood.

Johnson was three months pregnant, and prosecutors believe Austin was the father.

Sheriff’s detectives focused on the defendant early in the investigation, but there was no direct evidence tying him to the crime at that time, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

The case went cold until 2014, when a forensic sample from the murder scene was submitted to the state’s DNA database, resulting in a “hit,” or positive return, prosecutors said.

The DNA trace evidence, which was not identified, allegedly placed the defendant in the apartment at the time of the slaying.

Investigators arrested Austin on Feb. 6 without a struggle near the intersection of Iris and Perris avenues in Moreno Valley. A criminal complaint was filed against him two days later.

He has no prior documented felony convictions in Riverside County.

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