A state prison inmate has returned to Santa Barbara County to face new charges in a 2021 homicide in Santa Maria. 

Jaime Cid, 53, has been charged in Santa Barbara County Superior Court with murder and a sentencing enhancement for personal use of a knife during the killing.

The criminal complaint also alleges that Cid has two prior felony strike convictions under California’s three-strikes sentencing law.

The charges stem from the stabbing death of Raymond Earl Smith on March 9, 2021. 

Santa Maria police investigated the killing but apparently didn’t release information about the incident at the time.

When the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed the criminal complaint last month, Cid was incarcerated in the state prison in Corcoran in Kings County. 

Deputy District Attorney Austin Ingalls filed paperwork seeking an order to have Cid sent back to Santa Barbara County to face charges related to the homicide case. 

Cid had been sentenced to state prison for an earlier case in Santa Barbara County, including assault with personal use of a deadly weapon and vandalism of a vehicle’s tires and windshield in 2023.

In addition to Santa Barbara County, the defendant has prior convictions for voluntary manslaughter and first-degree burglary in Ventura County.

After pleading not guilty and denying the special allegations during the first court appearance earlier this week in Santa Maria for the homicide allegations, the case is scheduled to return to Judge Stephen Dunkle’s courtroom on Monday. 

At that time, the judge and attorneys may set a date for the preliminary hearing. 

Cid remains in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.