2 arrested after murder-for-hire plot leaves man dead in Riverside shooting, police say
A man was shot and killed earlier this week in what authorities described a murder-for-hire plot that unfolded outside a Riverside auto shop.
Officers responded around 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 29 to reports of a shooting at a business near Twogood Lane and Orange Street, according to the Riverside Police Department.
When they arrived, officers found 27-year-old Horacio Montero Jr. suffering from gunshot wounds inside a trailer on the property. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Montero, an auto mechanic, lived and worked at the business, police said.
Detectives identified 40-year-old Kenny Andrew Johnson of Riverside as a suspect and arrested him a few hours later.
Through their investigation, detectives determined the shooting was part of an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving a second suspect, identified as 43-year-old Alonzo Jeffery Monk Jr. of Colton.
"What our detectives learned through their investigation is they believe that Kenny Johnson had hired Alonzo Monk Jr. to commit this murder," said Officer Ryan Railsback, spokesman for the Riverside Police Department.
Railsback said investigators believe Monk went into the trailer and shot Montero while he was asleep. Montero's girlfriend was lying next to him but was not injured.
"She was the one who called police as soon as it woke her up," Railsback said.
Detectives believe Johnson and Monk knew each other, but Monk did not know Montero personally. Investigators are still trying to determine Johnson's motive for allegedly ordering the killing.
"Kenny Johnson had known our victim at some point," Railsback said. "We still don't know exactly how, but they had known each other."
Both Johnson and Monk have been arrested and booked on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bail.
