Demus Lushan Peterson, 40, of Lauderhill, Fla. is suspected of robbing and shooting truck driver Buster Shackleford at the now-defunct Beacon Truck Stop at 4300 East Inland Empire Blvd. in Ontario in 1994. He was captured Wednesday in Florida.
ONTARIO - Long-haul truck driver Buster Shackleford had only planned to park for the night at an Ontario truck stop in December 1994 after he missed a delivery deadline in Los Angeles.
But on that night 17 years ago, a man approached his truck and held him at gunpoint.
Shackleford was then robbed and shot dead.
Ontario police officers spent years trying to solve the case, interviewing witnesses and potential suspects, but they came up empty and the case turned cold - until this week.
"After 17 years and quite a bit of work we've actually arrested a suspect," police Sgt. David McBride said. "It's very gratifying to know we've closed a case that has remained open for so many years and that we can provide closure for family members."
The Police Department has identified Demus Lushan Peterson, 40, of Lauderhill, Fla., as its suspect.
He was arrested Wednesday in Broward County, Florida, during a routine appointment with his probation officer. He was on probation for a drug trafficking conviction, police officers said.
Police officers said the arrest caught Peterson off guard.
"It wasn't one of those things that he ever thought was going to happen," McBride said.
Peterson has been charged with robbing and shooting Shackleford on Dec. 29, 1994 at the now-defunct Beacon Truck Stop at 4300 E. Inland Empire Blvd.
The truck stop was torn down after the killing.
Commercial buildings now sit in its place.
Investigators identified Peterson as the suspect after reprocessing evidence from the crime scene in May.
"He was not one of the ones they were looking at before," McBride said. "He came on the radar after this forensic evidence took us in that direction."
Investigators withheld further details tying Peterson to the crime.
Peterson's relatives came to the man's defense on Thursday, saying he wasn't even in California when the shooting occurred.
"I really and truly don't understand this," said Carolyn Stevenson, Peterson's aunt from Florida.
"I don't know how they can place him at the scene when he was no where around there."
Peterson's cousin, Candice Owens, said she and Peterson left the state with other family members in July 1994. She said he did not return to California that year.
Despite Peterson's recent criminal conviction, he was working a job and trying to get his life together, Owens said.
"My cousin has been doing so well," she said. "He was fixing to get off his parole in a few years and then, boom, this happens."
The U.S. Marshals Service transferred Peterson to the custody of the Broward County Sheriff's Department. He will be held pending extradition hearings.
Reach Melissa via email or call her at 909-386-3878.
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