SAN DIEGO – The son of former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez will be booked into San Diego jail sometime Wednesday to face murder charges in connection with a slaying at SDSU, police said.
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San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins discusses the arrest.
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Nuñez and three other young men are accused of stabbing to death Mesa College student Luis Santos, 22, in an unprovoked attack in October, said San Diego homicide Capt. Jim Collins. The Sacramento friends, all 19 years old, are also charged with assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing three other men during the melee.
Esteban Nuñez, Ryan Jett, Rafael Garcia and Leshanor Thomas are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.
The four came to San Diego to visit friends and to party, Collins said during a news conference at police headquarters Wednesday.
While on the sidewalk on 55th Street, near the campus police station, the group confronted Santos and his friends as they were walking home from a nearby fraternity party about 2 a.m. Oct. 4. The verbal altercation turned physical, leaving Santos dead and three friends injured.
Collins would give specific details about the crime, but said more than one knife was used and the four suspects all “acted in concert.”
Shortly after the incident, two people came forward and told detectives the possible identities of the stabbers.
San Diego homicide detectives traveled to Sacramento the next week with search warrants and went through the homes of all four suspects. Collins declined to elaborate on evidence collected during the search, but said that the knives have not been recovered.
“In this case, we were very fortunate to have witnesses willing to come forward and talk to us and provide us valuable information to locate the suspects,” Collins said.
On Monday, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office filed charges against the four and homicide detectives made the arrests in Sacramento the next day without incident.
Nuñez was arrested while leaving his parent's home, while the others were arrested while at home, work and out in public, Collins said.
Investigators are also probing into the possibility of gang involvement, but Collins declined to provide further details. He said one of the suspects has a prior criminal record.
The four are also charged with misdemeanor vandalism in an unrelated incident that occurred nearby and shortly before the stabbing. Collins declined to comment further on that charge.
The captain said the high-profile status of one of the suspects will not change how the case is handled.
Nuñez's father, who was born in San Diego, served in the Assembly for six years and as speaker for the past four years. He represented the 46th District in Los Angeles until term limits prevented him from running for re-election this fall.
Fabian Nuñez, 41, could not be reached Tuesday night. A family member in San Diego refused to speak.
The former speaker has been appointed to the board of directors of Zenith National Insurance Corp., the company announced Monday. Also, Mercury Public Affairs, which runs public-policy campaigns, named Nuñez last week as legal counsel for its California operations.
Santos' father, who lives in the Bay Area, said last night his family is still dealing with the emotions of losing his son.
“The main question is, why? Who in their sane mind would walk around with a weapon? These people, they just threw away their lives. And now they have to pay the consequences,” said Fred Santos of Concord.
SDSU President Stephen L. Weber commended San Diego police.
“We will continue to follow the criminal prosecution with interest and – while nothing can restore a young life – our hope is that justice will be served,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. Staff writer Pauline Repard contributed to this report.
Kristina Davis: (619) 542-4591;
kristina.davis@uniontrib.com
