Navy Crewman Held in Shooting Deaths of Two

A Navy petty officer was being held Sunday in the fatal shooting of two men, one of them a Navy officer, in what police said were San Diego’s 47th and 48th homicides of the year.

Being held at County Jail on suspicion of murder was Petty Officer Byron Cochran, a crewman on the amphibious transport dock Denver.

The victims were identified as Ens. Darrell Eugene Turner, 23, assigned to the Naval Facility Engineer Command, and Marice Alan Smith, 20, a student from Oakland.

Police said the shootings took place at an apartment in the 4200 block of 44th Street. Witnesses told them Turner and his brother visited a female resident of the apartment Saturday afternoon and became involved in an argument with another man who was there.

Turner and his brother left but returned later with two friends and arguing again followed, both at the door and inside the apartment, police said.

Police arrived at the scene about 7:15 p.m. and found Turner dead in the apartment’s bedroom from a single gunshot wound to his chest

Smith was found lying in front of the apartment with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. He was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he died early Sunday, the San Diego County medical examiner’s office said.