Transient Stabbed to Death Downtown

A 31-year-old transient was stabbed to death on a downtown street early Sunday morning during an altercation with two other men, San Diego police reported.

The victim, Jerome Smith, was pronounced dead at UCSD Medical Center at 12:17 a.m. He had been stabbed once in the chest, said a coroner’s spokesman.

The other two men were hospitalized. They both were questioned by police, but no charges had been filed against either, said police spokesman Bill Robinson.

When police and paramedics arrived at the scene, in the 400 block of F Street, shortly after midnight, they found Smith lying on the sidewalk with a stab wound, Robinson said.

Also at the scene were Jerome Myers and Paul A. Crowley, both of whom had apparently been injured in the fracas. Myers, 31, was taken to Mercy Hospital with cuts to his right arm and minor facial injuries. He was was listed in stable condition Sunday afternoon. Crowley, 33, was taken to Physicians & Surgeons Hospital, where he was treated for facial injuries and released.

Several witnesses reportedly told police that they had seen Myers and Smith chasing Crowley down F Street, and saw Crowley knocked to the ground by the other men. The reason for the altercation was not known, Robinson said.

Police will continue their investigation and turn the findings over to the district attorney’s office, Robinson said.