Watsonville Man Charged With Murder In Brother's Slaying

WATSONVILLE, CA — Joseph Keeler, 28, is being charged with murder after his 26-year-old brother was discovered with a stab wound early Friday morning, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced. Christopher Keeler died at a trauma center.

Deputies received two calls about a disturbance at a Watsonville home on the 1400 block of Green Valley Road around 2 a.m., the sheriff's office said. Deputies found the younger Keeler had been stabbed.

First responders took him to an out-of-county trauma center, where he succumbed to his injury. The sheriff's office would not elaborate on the location of the wound.

His autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Keeler was arrested at the scene. He is in custody under $750,000 bail, the sheriff's office said.

The Keelers lived on the same property but not in the same unit, said sheriff's office spokesperson Ashley Keehn.

The 911 calls came from other residents who lived on the property. Deputies' investigation and interviews with people in the area at the time led them to believe Joseph Keeler was their suspect, Keehn said.

Deputies are trying to determine whether a five- to six-inch blade recovered at the scene could have been used in the attack, she said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 831-454-7635.