1 Dead After Neighbor Launches Overnight Attack In Morongo Valley: Sheriff's Dept.

MORONGO VALLEY, CA — A man suspected of a middle-of-the-night slaying at a Morongo Valley mobile home park was a neighbor who knew the victims, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Rocky Kevin Duarte, 41, of Morongo Valley is charged with murder and attempted murder following a killing last week in the 51000 block of Twentynine Palms Highway.

According to the sheriff's department, just after 3 a.m. on Nov. 5, deputies were called to the location and found a 59-year-old woman "with visible lacerations to the left side of her face, neck and left shoulder area" and a 58-year-old man who was fatally stabbed.

Reporting from local Z107.7 News identified the location as the Roadrunner Mobile Park and the deceased as Ross Mercer.

The woman survived, but an update on her condition was unavailable.

According to the sheriff's department, the woman told investigators that she had fallen asleep on a chair inside a residence and awoke to see Duarte in the kitchen.

Duarte allegedly stabbed the man, killing him, then attacked the woman before fleeing.

Duarte was later found at his residence at the mobile home park and was arrested.

Investigators did not disclose a possible motive for the alleged attack.

Duarte is being held at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Court information for him was not immediately available.