Victim in Fatal Point Loma Heights Shooting Identified

San Diego, CA — A man found shot to death last week at a Point Loma Heights apartment complex near Ocean Beach was identified Monday by authorities.

Jess Matthew Robles, 34, of Pacific Beach, was fatally shot at around 11 p.m. Wednesday in the 4100 block of Voltaire Street, according to San Diego police Homicide Lt. Manny Del Toro.

Authorities found Robles with a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene after life-saving measures failed, Del Toro said.

The suspect in the shooting, 32-year-old Thomas Francis Burke, was arrested Thursday in the downtown San Diego area of 16th and F Street and booked into the San Diego Central Jail on one count of murder.

"The suspect and victim in this case were acquaintances," Del Toro said.

Burke remained jailed without bail Monday pending his arraignment, which was put off until Thursday after defense attorney Thomas Warwick told Judge Frederick Maguire that he was in the process of being retained on the case.

At the time of the shooting, witnesses reported that the assailant had retreated into a nearby residence, San Diego police Lt. Ray Valentin said.

Officers tried in vain to contact the suspect, then called in a SWAT team to take positions around the condo and prepare to enter forcibly if necessary.

The stalemate continued past daybreak, until a detective was able to reach Burke on the suspect's cellphone and he agreed to turn himself in.

Police were unsure if Burke had been in the surrounded residence at all during the standoff or if he might have left the area unnoticed beforehand.

Deputy District Attorney Kyle Sutterley said Burke faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted of murder and the use of a gun.

A motive for the killing was unknown.

Anyone with information related to the case was encouraged to call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

— City News Service contributed to this report.

(Patch file photo/Maggie Avants)