| For Immediate Release January 14th, 2004 |
Contact: | Mark Macaulay Spokesperson (714) 347-8405 (O) (714) 323-4486 (C) |
A FULLERTON MAN IS CHARGED WITH MURDER 12 YEARS AFTER THE CRIME WAS COMMITTED
Santa Ana – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has charged Cary Singletary, 44, of Fullerton, with the murder of Donald George Riley, a crime that had gone unsolved for more than twelve years. Investigators from the OCDA TracKRS unit reviewed the case and uncovered new information that led them to put out a warrant for Singletary’s arrest. Singletary was apprehended Monday in Fullerton when he went to get his car out of impoundment at Cal State University-Fullerton.
Singletary is accused of punching, kicking and then beating Riley over the head with a chair, on November 24, 1991, in a room at the Lincoln Palms Hotel in Anaheim. Following the assault, Singletary was driven away from the scene by another person. Riley was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he remained comatose until he died, on December 14, 1991, as a result of his injuries.
“Let this be a warning, if you kill another human being in Orange County we’re never going to stop looking for you,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “This is a good example of how TracKRS can make a difference in cases that have long gone unsolved.”
Investigators from TracKRS began looking into this case at the request of the Anaheim Police Department. Composed of a variety of resources, TracKRS provides local law enforcement investigators with the tools and information they need to get better results from homicide and sexual assault investigations. Through a computer database the unit can track DNA evidence and information from the crime scenes of thousands of murder and rape cases countywide. In this instance, TracKRS offered the Anaheim PD the assistance of two homicide investigators. To date, the unit has reviewed more than 200 cases in Orange County reaching as far back as 1960.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin has been assigned to the case. Singletary was arraigned today in C55, in front of Judge Marc Kelly, and is being held on $1,000,000 bail.