Autopsy Planned for Man Who Apparently Was Fight Victim

An autopsy is planned for this morning in connection with the Friday death of a 33-year-old Santa Paula man who got into a fatal altercation earlier this week.

The victim, Darryl Solis apparently was involved in a fight Wednesday night with two people at a house in the 100 block of South Steckel Drive.

Solis was in a coma with critical head injuries when he was dropped off at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital’s emergency room about 11:10 p.m., authorities said.

Hospital officials called the Santa Paula Police Department to tell them about the injured man, and upon arrival officers recognized the victim from a call less than an hour earlier, said Cmdr. Robert Gonzales.

Officers had responded to a 10:35 p.m. call about a disturbance at the house on Steckel Drive. They interviewed several people, including Solis, and were told that Solis had been in a fight with two unidentified males who were not invited to the house. Solis did not appear injured at the time and no arrests were made, authorities said.

At 11:18 p.m., police got the hospital’s call about a man who had been dropped off. The people who had brought him in provided no information about the victim or how he had been hurt, Gonzales said.

Solis was transported from Santa Paula Memorial Hospital to Ventura County Medical Center later that night.

On Thursday afternoon, a male walked into the Santa Paula Police Station and said he had hit Solis the night before. He was booked and then released. Authorities did not reveal his name or say what he was charged with.

Solis died from his injuries at 12:40 p.m. Friday at Ventura County Medical Center, according to Senior Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens.

“We will be doing an autopsy first thing [Saturday] morning,” Stevens said. Preliminary reports indicate that Solis died of an internal head injury sustained as a result of a fall during a fight, Stevens said.