Suspect Held in Death of Woman at Trolley Stop

A 19-year-old San Diego man was held in County Jail on Monday in connection with the killing of a woman during a fight at a Logan Heights trolley station last weekend.

Meanwhile, police continued to search for a man who intervened in the dispute and stabbed the assailant, officials said.

Wardell Campbell was arrested several hours after the fight Saturday while he was being treated at UC San Diego Medical Center for a stab wound in the chest, Police Lt. John Welter said.

Welter said Campbell was stabbed about 12:20 a.m. Saturday during a fight in which Monica Chapa, 18, of El Cajon was hit on the head with a rock and died.

The fight apparently started after Chapa; her brother, Johnny, and a friend, Carlos Guevara, 29, got off the trolley at 32nd Street and Commercial Avenue. A group of two black men and two women reportedly confronted the three, all Latinos, and insulted Monica Chapa, Welter said. Campbell then allegedly threw a rock that hit Chapa in the head, Welter said.

Johnny Chapa told police that another man they didn’t know then stepped in, stabbed Campbell and fled, Welter said. Police were trying Monday to identify that man.

Chapa’s brother and Guevara were not believed to have been armed, Welter said.

The two groups fled in separate directions. Chapa’s brother and Guevara hailed a passing motorist who agreed to take them to the hospital, but they got lost and asked a police officer for help, Welter said.

Chapa was pronounced dead at UC San Diego Medical Center at 12:51 a.m.

Welter said police were also investigating statements made by the Chapa family that the motorist and Chapa’s brother had first hailed another officer, who gave them directions to the hospital without calling paramedics.

Meanwhile, police were called to Campbell’s home in the 3100 block of Clay Street, about a block from the trolley stop. Campbell said the stabbing occurred elsewhere, but officers said they determined that the injury was related to a separate call they had received about the fight.

At first, officials said the incident might be gang-related, but there was no confirmation Monday that any of those involved were gang members.