Murder suspect quickly arrested after tip leads to discovery of deceased man in burned room Monday afternoon

On Monday, December 12th, 2022, at 12:13 pm, Turlock Police officers responded to a suspicious incident at 1307 W Linwood Ave, Turlock, after they had received a tip that they could locate a man who had possibly been assaulted inside of the abandoned building.

Officers entered the building and located a deceased man in a partially burned room.

Detectives were notified and they responded to take over the scene. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the location and were able to take a closer look at the evidence located, which indicated that the man was indeed an assault victim.

The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigations Unit also responded and they spent several hours at the location processing the scene with detectives.

Detectives and investigators with the Turlock Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit began interviewing potential witnesses and working leads, which ultimately led to Danny Stevens, 58, of Turlock, being identified as a person of interest.

The following day, Tuesday, December 13th, while detectives were interviewing a potential witness at a residence, Stevens came by on a bicycle and left when he discovered that detectives were there.

Shortly later, at 2:20 pm, investigators with the Turlock Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit located Stevens near the intersection of Esperanza Ct and Montana Ave. He was arrested.

Stevens was transported to the Turlock Police Department to be interviewed for the incident.

Afterward, he was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of murder. He is currently being held on a no-bail status.

Stevens is believed to have only known the victim for a short amount of time, leaving the motive for the incident unclear. However, there is no indication at this time that this was a random act of violence.

“Detectives are relentlessly working this investigation to determine why this senseless crime occurred,” said Turlock Police Captain Steve Rodrigues. “Please help by calling if you have any information about this crime,” he continued.

The name of the deceased has yet to be released, pending next of kin notification.

The investigation remains ongoing, anyone with information that could assist in it is encouraged to call Detective Gina Giovacchini at 209-668-6539.