Victim Of Fatal North Park Stabbing Identified

SAN DIEGO, CA — Authorities Wednesday publicly identified a 23-year-old man who was fatally stabbed in North Park.

Patrol officers who pulled over a motorist for speeding at El Cajon Boulevard and Texas Street about 3:45 p.m. Saturday found Nikko Guardado in a passenger seat in the vehicle, bleeding heavily from puncture wounds to his lower body, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Paramedics took Guardado to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, SDPD Lt. Andra Brown said.

The next day, police arrested the suspected killer, 32-year-old Alberto Jorge Barraza, at his home about a mile southeast of the site of the traffic stop.

Police have not disclosed what led them to identify Barraza as the suspect in the killing, which is believed to have occurred in an alley near his residence.

The motive for the killing remains unclear.

"The exact circumstances surrounding the stabbing are still being investigated," Brown said Wednesday.

— City News Service