A San Diego man died Saturday after being stabbed in the chest and left to bleed on the streets of City Heights, police confirmed.
San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Homicide Unit Lt. Mike Holden said officers were called to 4070 42nd St. just before 3 a.m. to investigate reports of an assault. When police arrived, they discovered Juan Young Jr., 26, bleeding in the courtyard of an apartment complex.
He had suffered a stab wound to his chest, Holden said, and was in critical condition. Young was rushed to a local hospital where he soon died.
At around 4:20 a.m., police arrested Cesar Guerrero, 22, as the suspect in the deadly stabbing. He had fled the scene initially but tried to return to the apartment complex a short time later through an alley.
Officers spotted him and took him into custody. Guerrero will face one count of murder, Holden said.
City Heights resident Juanita Warner, who has lived in the area for 20 years, said she’s shocked and saddened by the deadly violence in her neighborhood.
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“It’s just really sad. It’s just really sad to see something like that happening around here,” Warner told NBC 7. “That really hurts here in my own neighborhood.”
Although Warner said the area is generally quiet, she wouldn’t mind seeing more police officers patrolling her neighborhood.
“It does concern me that there might be more of this happening in our area. There are a lot of families; a lot of young families, a lot of kids,” she added. “It gives me the chills to think that I can happen so close. And there are a lot of families in these homes.”
Meanwhile, Armon Radford, who has lived in City Heights for about two years, said he has seen a lot of conflict among neighbors in the area.
“It’s a rough neighborhood, I would say,” he explained. “My car had been stolen and broken into. My girlfriend’s car had been broken into. Yeah, it’s not the safest place.”
The investigation is ongoing. At this point, the motive for the killing is unknown. Anyone with information on this case can call the SDPD’s Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
