Three people, including two teenagers, have been arrested in the stabbing death of SoCal 16-year-old Eric Ronald Sargeant, Jr., who was reportedly attacked for his cellphone.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said deputies identified, tracked down and arrested the three in unincorporated East Hemet yesterday: The teens are underage and thus would not be identified.

A third suspect, however, is 20 and was ID'd as …

… Francisco Zavala.

He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, sheriff's officials said in a statement: The other two suspects, 15 and 17, were being held at a juvenile hall, also on suspicion of murder.

The attack at Acacia Avenue and Cherrywood Drive in East Hemet was reported at 4:45 p.m. Monday, authorities said.


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Sargeant was in bad enough shape when first-responders arrived that they had him taken by helicopter to a hospital, where he was initially listed in critical-but-stable condition, deputies said.

But at 10:15 that night he died, they said.

Neighbors were shocked, and friends and relatives held a vigil for the teen the very next day.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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