Riverside police ask for public's help amid investigation of unsolved 1991 cold case murder

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- It's been nearly 35 years since Stephen Morgan was murdered in front of the Riverside apartment complex where he lived.

This week, police and the victim's mother again asked for the public's help with any information that might lead to the arrest of the killer.

"Stephen was a precious, precious person; not only to me but the people who knew him," said Lucille Morgan about her son. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about Stephen; and just wonder why."

Stephen Morgan was found shot to death near the driver's side door of his car parked outside University Lodge, an apartment complex near the intersection of University Avenue and Ottawa Avenue in the city of Riverside.

"It basically looks like he was getting out of his car and was shot in the head, and then fell right at the driver's door," said officer Ryan Railsback, who said even a potential motive for the crime remains a mystery.

"Was he robbed? Well, we don't believe so because all of this stuff was there; he had his briefcase, his wallet, keys, and money. All of that was still there.

"Was this random, did he know the killer, those are questions we haven't been able to answer."

There's no surveillance video of the incident, and at the time DNA technology was in its infancy. Detectives interviewed friends, witnesses and associates, but say there's still very little to go on.

But Railsback said that someone likely knows something, and they're hoping someone will come forward with information that leads to them solving this case.

"This suspect had to have talked to somebody," said Railsback. "Maybe somebody was there with him. But we're just hoping someone just calls in an anonymous tip and says go look at this person."

Police ask that anyone with information about the case contact the Riverside Police Department's Homicide Cold Case Unit at HomicideColdCase@RiversideCA.gov or (951) 320-8000.