Crime & Safety
Update: Suspect and Victim In Fatal Spring Valley Fight Were Neighbors
John Guy Durham, 55, was arrested Tuesday and booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of one count of murder in the death of Jay Newman.
Update - 4:47 p.m. Thursday
According to sheriff's homicide detective Lt. Larry Nesbit, the victim, Jay Newman, 53, and the suspect, John Guy Durham, 55, were next-door neighbors on South Cordoba Avenue.
The two men began arguing and fighting shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday before Durham allegedly inflicted a mortal wound upon Newman. A cause of death ruling remains pending until the completion of postmortem exams, said Nesbit.
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Nesbit would not reveal what might have prompted the deadly fight, though he said detectives were aware of no prior bad blood between the two men.
Update - 7:16 a.m. Thursday
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A man was in custody Wednesday on suspicion of killing a 53-year-old man in a fight in Spring Valley.
John Guy Durham, 55, was arrested Tuesday and booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of one count of murder in the death of Jay Newman, according to sheriff's homicide Lt. Larry Nesbit and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
The coroner, however, did not immediately report Newman's death as a homicide. An autopsy was pending to determine the official cause of death.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday, deputies were called to the 3600 block of South Cordoba Avenue to break up a fight between the two men. They found bystanders performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Newman, Nesbit said.
Paramedics took Newman to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Durham was arrested without further incident.
* * *
A fight turned deadly in a Spring Valley neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.
Deputies responding to the altercation in the 3600 block of South Cordoba Avenue shortly before 4 p.m. found a mortally injured person in the area, sheriff's Lt. Kelly Stuart said. The victim died a short time later, and homicide detectives were called in to investigate.
Further details, including the reason for the fight and the deceased person's name, were unavailable early Tuesday.
–City News Service
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