2 Youths Die in Gang Fight

An angry exchange of words between two large gatherings of youths in Mission Beach turned violent early Saturday morning and ended in the stabbing deaths of two San Diego men.

Cesar Meza, 21, and Maurice Duran, 18, died of knife wounds in what San Diego police said was a fight between rival gangs that included both men and women. The men died at the scene near the 1000 block of West Mission Bay Drive.

Police said the incident occurred about 1:15 a.m., and homicide investigators interviewed witnesses throughout the morning. Officers roped off the area and investigators returned to the scene during the day to search for clues.

No suspects were in custody by Saturday evening.

According to a police report of the incident, a patrol officer was flagged down by a security guard from the Bahia Resort hotel, who reported a shooting. Although witnesses reported hearing shots, investigator Charles Kelley from the San Diego County medical examiner’s office said Meza and Duran died of stab wounds and were not shot.

The officer flagged down by the guard found the first victim lying in a parking lot off West Mission Bay Drive near Ventura Cove. Additional officers dispatched to the scene found the second victim sprawled in a parking lot across the street, near Bonita Cove. Officers believe that the second victim tried to run away from his attacker or attackers but was overpowered and killed.

The Mission Beach area is a popular hangout for youths, who flock there on weekends to meet on city-owned parking lots. Local residents and hotel officials have complained about the late-night crowds of youths and have expressed concern that more fights and deaths will occur in the coming summer.

Confrontations occur almost weekly in the area, and police have reported several gang-related stabbings and beatings in the past year. In addition to Meza and Duran, two other victims have died in the same general area in gang feuds.

Hector Ramirez, 21, of San Diego died in September after being shot in the face in the same parking lot near the Bahia where one of Saturday’s victims died. A 16-year-old Cambodian girl from Long Beach died the same month after she was shot in the head.