Man charged with deadly attacks on
homeless in San Diego
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[July 20, 2016]
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A man with a history
of mental illness was charged on Tuesday with attacking five homeless
men in San Diego, killing three of his victims, in a violent crime spree
this month that terrorized the city's poorest residents.
Jon David Guerrero, 39, described by the city police chief as
"disturbed" and a "predator," appeared briefly in San Diego County
Superior Court and was ordered held without bond on three counts of
murder and two counts of attempted murder.
If convicted Guerrero faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without
parole, unless prosecutors decide to seek the death penalty.
No plea was entered in the case as yet. Arraignment proceedings were
postponed until Aug. 2 at the request of Guerrero's lawyer, public
defender Dan Tandon, who sought additional time to prepare.
Neither police nor prosecutors have furnished details about the nature
and circumstances of the attacks, except that all five victims suffered
"trauma to the upper torso," including two slain men who were set on
fire.
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Guerrero was arrested on Friday. He was stopped on his bicycle 30
minutes after the latest surviving victim was found bleeding from a
chest wound and screaming for help at the edge of downtown, police said.
The string of attacks, beginning on July 3, sent fear through a
sprawling homeless community estimated at about 9,000 people in and
around California's second-largest city.
According to police, evidence linking Guerrero to the slayings was
uncovered at his residence.
He lived in a "supportive-housing" project downtown called Alpha Square,
consisting of about 200 studio apartments for former homeless men and
women and other individuals with special needs.
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![](../images/072016pics/news_d7.jpg)
Accused of attacking homeless men, three of them fatally, Jon David
Guerrero stands handcuffed as he makes his first appearance in court
at San Diego County Court in San Diego, California, United States,
July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Pool/John Gibbons Union Tribune
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A check of the Superior Court case index showed five mental health
matters filed under his name since 2008, all of them sealed.
Dameon Ditto, a friend of Guerrero who taught him art at Alpha
Square, told Reuters he had not seen the defendant since June 12.
"He had expressed to me that he was taking psychiatric medications
he didn't like," Ditto recalled of their last encounter.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after Tuesday's hearing,
Tandon appealed to the media and public for patience.
"San Diego deserves to know the truth and the whole story," he said,
adding, "The story begins many years ago." He did not elaborate.
(Reporting by Marty Graham in San Diego; Writing by Steve Gorman;
Editing by Bernard Orr)
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