POLICE: DEATH OF MAN, 52, FOUND INSIDE APARTMENT IS SUSPICIOUS

Homicide detectives are investigating the suspicious death of a 52year-old man found dead Friday inside a City Heights apartment, San Diego police said.

The investigation began around 4:45 p.m. at the apartment on Euclid Avenue between El Cajon Boulevard and Orange Avenue after a friend reported seeing the victim inside the unit with apparent injuries, homicide Lt. Steve Shebloski said.

The person who called police had gone to the apartment to check on a friend who “had not been seen for some time,” Shebloski said in a news release.

Officers arrived within a few minutes and, from outside, confirmed there was a man on the ground who appeared seriously injured or dead, Shebloski said. The officers forced entry into the apartment and confirmed the man was dead, with some sort of trauma to his upper body.

Homicide detectives took over the investigation because of the suspicious nature of the man’s death, Shebloski said. Investigators are awaiting the preliminary results of an autopsy to determine exactly how he died.

Shebloski said the man’s name is known to investigators but was being withheld until family members were notified. The lieutenant said there was no immediate information about a suspect or suspects.

Anyone with information about the man’s death was asked to contact the Police Department’s homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

Man convicted in shooting deaths of two in June 1987

A San Diego Superior Court jury on Friday convicted a man on two counts of second-degree murder for gunning down a pair of men 35 years ago in Ramona at a kid’s birthday party.

Jose Angel Solorio, 62, was found guilty of the June 7, 1987, killings of German Aviles, 26, and Ventura Aviles, 21. The men died at the scene of the shooting, which took place at an apartment on Seventh and B streets during a birthday party for German Aviles’ 4-year-old daughter.

Law enforcement officials said that after the slayings, the then-27year-old Solorio fled to Mexico, where authorities arrested him in 2019.

Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg alleged Solorio got into an argument with the victims and other men over getting more beer for the party. The prosecutor alleged Solorio was angered over an apparent insult directed at him, left the party and returned a short time later with a loaded gun.

While standing in the doorway of the apartment, Solorio fatally shot German and Ventura Aviles, then shot and wounded another man inside the apartment. He then shot a fourth man outside the apartment who was returning to the home with beer. Though none of the men were armed with a firearm, Ventura Aviles had a knife tucked in his waistband, though Lindberg said there was no evidence that he ever produced the knife or threatened to use it.

Solorio was initially charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly shooting all four men, but only faced two murder counts at trial in connection with the deceased victims.

Defense attorney Shannon Kitten argued Solorio was attacked by the men and fired in self-defense.

Kitten said that during the party, someone made threats toward Solorio and his family. When he returned to the party to confront the men about what was said, Kitten argued the men advanced on him and Solorio said, “Don’t come at me,” before opening fire.

Lindberg alleged that self-defense did not come into play because the defendant provoked the shooting.

“The defendant wasn’t in danger when he came back with a gun. The defendant was the danger,” Lindberg told the jury.

He is slated to be sentenced June 24.

City News Service

Man gets 4 years in prison for two local bank robberies

A Campo man was sentenced Friday in San Diego federal court to four years in federal prison for committing two robberies at San Diego County banks, as well as violating his release conditions in an unrelated case.

Eric Tyler Oxenham, 27, pleaded guilty earlier this year to robbing tellers on Sept. 24 at a California Bank & Trust in El Cajon and on Sept. 30 at a U.S. Bank on West Washington Street in Hillcrest. On each occasion he presented demand notes to the tellers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Oxenham made off with more than $2,000 in cash in the robberies, prosecutors said.

He was arrested about a month after the second robbery, with investigators using surveillance footage to identify his getaway vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Along with the robberies, Oxenham received additional time for violating the conditions of supervised release stemming from a prior conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

City News Service