Only 1 of 6 Aliens to Be Charged in Park Stabbing

Criminal charges will not be filed against five of the six men arrested last week in connection with the stabbing death of a man in Balboa Park, officials said Thursday.

The sixth man, Javier Garcia Gutierrez, 19, will be arraigned today on one count of murder and one count of robbery, said Linda Miller, a spokeswoman with the San Diego district attorney’s office.

“We didn’t have the evidence on the other five,” Miller said, explaining the decision not to press charges. Miller declined to elaborate on the evidence against Gutierrez.

She said she believes the investigation is still continuing. The police investigators handling the case could not be reached for comment.

Gutierrez was being held without bail in the County Jail downtown, a jail spokesman said. The other men have been turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Miller said.

Gutierrez and the others identified themselves to police as Mexican nationals who entered the United States illegally.

The group is believed to have been living in the canyons of Balboa Park, police said. The men were taken into custody July 5 in connection with the death earlier that day of Franklin James Black, 34, an unemployed and disabled San Diego resident.

Black was found dead of multiple stab wounds after an apparent robbery attempt near Balboa Drive and Maple Street, police said. He was wearing only athletic shorts and shoes.

Officers found Black’s wallet and the weapon believed used to kill him close to where the men were apprehended.

Some of the men arrested had blood on their clothing at the time they were taken into custody, police said.

Arrested last week besides Gutierrez, were Juan Sanchez Valenzuela, 18; Arnulfo Garcia Gonzales, 21; Jamie Valdez Villareal, 22; Angel Munoz Espinosa, 18, and Jose Lopez Montaina, 21.