LOCAL : Suspect Held in Transient Death

A 37-year-old man has been charged in the death of a fellow transient during an argument in a former RTD bus garage in Van Nuys that had been turned into a homeless encampment, authorities said today.

Mark Edward McCray was charged Tuesday with one count of murder and was being held without bail at the Los Angeles County Jail.

Police said McCray stabbed a 33-year-old man to death Saturday night in the unused bus garage at 14557 Sherman Way. The attack occurred during an argument, but it was unknown what the dispute was about, Detective Jim Vojtecky said. The victim’s name was not released because investigators had been unable to find his family to notify them.

Vojtecky said several other transients who live in the bus garage witnessed the slaying. McCray, who is known as “Caspar” on the street, was arrested Sunday morning when someone tipped police that he was eating at a restaurant near the garage.

Several transients had apparently been living in the cavernous garage for months, Vojtecky said. He said bus bays and offices were partitioned into living areas.

Vojtecky said the garage was scheduled for demolition and was surrounded by a chain-link fence. He said dismantling of the structure began Monday.