http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... illed.html

Immigrant found slain in Grant Hill house

By Lola Sherman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 23, 2006

Police found a 21-year-old immigrant dead yesterday, apparently the victim of smugglers who had not been paid for bringing him into the United States, San Diego police said.

Neither police nor the medical examiner would identify the victim.

The victim's mother told police her son had arrived at her apartment on 28th Street in Grant Hill just after midnight accompanied by a woman who demanded money, homicide Lt. Jeff Sferra said. The mother did not have the money, and the woman left.

Two hours later, two men arrived at the mother's apartment and told her that she must have the money by noon, and then they took her son, Sferra said.

At 3 a.m., the man's brother received a call telling him to forget about the money because the man had been shot, Sferra said.

Subsequent calls directed the brother to a house near 32nd and J streets in Grant Hill.

Sferra said police went door to door and found a small house with the door unlocked just after noon.

They found the man dead on the living room floor. He had been shot.

An investigation led to one of the men who had gone to the mother's apartment. He was questioned and released.

Police are looking for the second man, described as Latino, in his late 20s or early 30s, with brown eyes and long black hair in a ponytail, 5 feet to 5 feet 3 inches tall, and about 145 pounds with a thin build. He was wearing a blue sweat shirt and blue shorts and used the name “Augustino.”

Police ask anyone with information to call the homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (88 580-TIPS.