Woman Slain After Rift; Neighbor Is Arrested
A feud between four women in two adjacent Southeast San Diego apartments Saturday night left one dead and a second arrested in connection with the slaying.
The stabbing death of Letha Dale, 25, came just minutes after police had settled a fight involving four women in two apartments at 5280 Groveland Drive.
Police returned to the apartment building to find Dale walking toward them, bleeding profusely from the neck. She collapsed in the parking lot and died at 7:59 p.m. at Mercy Hospital of a stab wound that severed a major artery, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Police arrested Mary Ackles, 28, and booked her into the Las Colinas County Jail in Santee on suspicion of murder.
About 6:35 p.m., police monitoring narcotics activity responded to an argument involving Ackles and 25-year-old Launa Reeves--occupants of Apt. 3--and Dale and Regina Johnson, who lived in Apt. 4. The dispute resulted in broken windows in Apt. 3, but police made no arrests, said Sgt. Chuck Sleeper.
While patrolling Naranja Street one block north, police saw Johnson run upstairs toward her apartment. Fearing that she was getting a weapon, they returned to the building to find Dale already mortally wounded.
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