Man Fatally Injured in Fight at Boarding Home; Resident Held

An argument over a woman at a board and care home on West Richland Avenue in Santa Ana apparently led to the death of one of its residents and the arrest of another Wednesday, police said.

Fidel Carrillo, 54, allegedly hit Smith Watkins, 80, over the head with a metal pipe several times during the argument, Police Sgt. Ken Koorndyk said.

Watkins was fatally injured by the blows, Koorndyk said. Carrillo was booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of homicide. The incident occurred at the Richland Guest Home in the 1000 block of West Richland.

The owner of the facility said the two men were friends. “Anytime Smith needed anything, he asked Fidel to go to the store for him,” said Angelina Valdivia, who owns the home. “I always saw them together talking.”

Valdivia said that Carrillo told an attendant at the facility about 4:30 p.m. that he had hit Watkins. “They didn’t think it was anything serious,” she said. “But when they went to his room, they saw all the blood.”

Validivia said she did not know whom the men might have been arguing about. Carrillo has been in the home since about 1970, she said.