Teen Arrested For Killing Woman, Her 8-Year-Old Daughter During Burglary

A 19-year-old teen has been arrested and charged with murder after he stabbed a woman and her 8-year-old to death during a burglary at their California home last month.

Police arrived at the victims’ home in Rancho Cucamonga on March 7 after receiving a 911 call about an "unknown problem" at the residence. The responding officers found 44-year-old Jia Jia and her 8-year-old daughter Ruby Meng, dead with several stab wounds. They also found another woman at the residence with serious stab injuries and rushed her to the hospital, Daily Bulletin reported.

After a 5-week investigation, the teen, identified as Jacob Wright, was found to be the accused. Investigators conducted a traffic stop on the accused Tuesday evening and took him into custody. They then served a search warrant at his residence and found evidence.

The accused was questioned and it was revealed that the stabbing took place during a burglary and that the teen and the victims did not know each other. Investigators confirmed that though the victims were Asian-Americans, racial hate was not the motive.

He appeared in court Thursday and was charged with two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder and first-degree residential burglary.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson told ABC 7 that the charges were filed because of the "sophistication and the depravity of the crime" and the vulnerability of the victims.

"One of the victims was particularly vulnerable, an 8-year-old little girl, sleeping in the safety and sanctity of her mother's bed," Anderson said.

"Can you imagine a safer place for an 8-year-old than to be cuddled up next to her mother? Only to be woken up by her mother's screams and to be stabbed by an intruder," he added.

Meanwhile, the incident has created panic among the residents in the Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood.

"You’d almost want to feel like it’s an inside job, or him knowing someone. It’s pretty scary to know that some random house is picked, you know. It could have been any of our houses," Sidney Stephens, a neighbor of the victims, told CBS Los Angeles.

The photo of the accused was released by the authorities, who have asked anyone with any information regarding unreported crime involving him to contact them.