A homeless man accused of randomly killing a father at a restaurant near the Ventura shoreline last week, fatally stabbing the 35-year-old as his young daughter sat on his lap, is due to be arraigned Friday, prosecutors said.
Jamal Jackson, 49, is seen in a booking photo released April 19, 2018, by the Ventura Police Department.
Jamal Jackson, 49, has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the April 18 attack that left Anthony Mele dead, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
The charges also allege a prior “strike” offense of residential burglary against the defendant, a news release from the DA’s office stated.
Jackson’s arraignment is scheduled to take place Friday afternoon.
On the night of April 18, Mele was dining with his 5-year-old daughter and wife at the Aloha Steakhouse, located at 346 S. California St., when the unprovoked attack took place, authorities said.
Jackson allegedly approached the victim at random and stabbed him in the throat after the family had just finished eating. Mele was rushed to a hospital where he immediately underwent surgery, according to the Ventura Police Department.
He died the following day. A GoFundMe campaign set up to help pay for Mele’s funeral and support his family has raised more than $109,000 as of Friday.
After the fatal attack, a crowd of people swarmed the suspect, chasing him from the restaurant to the nearby beach. He was arrested by responding officers.
Anthony Mele is seen in an undated photo posted to a GoFundMe campaign.
Hours before the stabbing happened, police received a call regarding some disruptive behavior displayed by Jackson in the area. But with all patrol officers busy with other calls at the time, the department did not respond to the scene.
Instead, they monitored his activity from a surveillance camera near his location outside the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach for a brief period of time. The observation period ended after about 20 minutes, when police could no longer see Jackson on the camera.
Police ultimately determined he posed no threat and did not send resources to the area.
Five days later, Police Chief Ken Corney acknowledged to the Los Angeles Times that he felt the department made a mistake in not responding, saying they should have eventually gone to the area. He said the decision to cancel the emergency response came from the 911 operations center, which also has the ability to operate the surveillance camera.
That decision is being reviewed, Corney added.
“Our practice is not to handle these calls by security cameras, it is to put boots on the ground,” he explained to the Times.
Alicia Carman, of Ventura, looks at the memorial for Anthony Mele Jr., 35, outside of Aloha Steakhouse. (Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Patrols around the Ventura Promenade area have been increased.
Local citizens have also been putting pressure on officials to address the homelessness issues, voicing their concerns at a Ventura City Council meeting Monday night after marching to City Hall from the steakhouse where Mele was slain.
At the meeting, residents expressed frustration over the city’s handling of what they described as a growing homeless population.
“We can’t go to the parks. We can’t go anywhere in the public without having to deal with a violent and aggressive vagrancy,” said Angela Smith, who helped organize the march. “We need our City Council to invest in our public safety. That should be the utmost priority for us.”
from KTLA https://ift.tt/2HQTMkb
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