Suspect Arrested After Boy Fatally Beaten In Rancho Bernardo

SAN DIEGO—A young Escondido man was behind bars today for the slaying of a 16-year-old boy found bludgeoned to death last winter on a Rancho Bernardo street, authorities reported. Angel Marceo Ramirez, 19, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fatally beating the teen and leaving him to die in the 16800 block of Cresta Drive on the night of March 7, according to San Diego police.

The victim was found shortly before 11:30 that night and died at the scene, said Sgt. Michelle Velovich. Investigators initially believed that the boy had been killed in a traffic accident, but an autopsy determined that his death was a homicide, the sergeant said.

Velovich declined to release the boy's name because he was a minor at the time. Alex Saint, spokeswoman for the county Medical Examiner's Office, also declined to identify him, saying the case had been sealed by police.

Witness statements and forensic evidence led detectives to identify Ramirez as the suspected killer in the case, said Velovich. He and the victim had apparently known each other prior to the night of the alleged murder, she said, describing them as only "associates'' of some kind.

The sergeant would not comment on any suspected motive for the purported slaying or disclose how the fatal wounds were believed to have been inflicted. Ramirez was being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

– City News Service