2 Men Arrested in Fatal Stabbing

Two Santa Paula men were arrested Sunday on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 50-year-old Santa Paula resident, police said.

Heriberto Dominguez was killed while trying to break up a fight shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday at La Fronteria nightclub, 1498 E. Harvard Blvd., police said.

“There was a confrontation of some sort, and one of the three individuals [at the scene] stabbed him,” Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Bob Gonzales said.

Francisco Gueverra, 21, and Jesus Gregorio, 25, were arrested about two hours after the incident and booked into Ventura County Jail. Both men, being held in lieu of $250,000 bail each, are expected to be arraigned Tuesday.

A third man, Ciro Coronel, 24, was arrested and then released pending further investigation, police said.

It was the second homicide this year in Santa Paula, which has averaged two per year since 1980, Gonzales said. The first occurred Jan. 1, when Louie Fonseca was shot by a suspected rival gang member.

A woman who works at La Fronteria said Dominguez was not an employee of the nightclub but had helped out there from time to time.

Dominguez, who received a single stab wound to the left side of his chest, was pronounced dead at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital about 1:30 a.m, according to the coroner’s office. Dominguez’s closest relatives live in Colorado and Mexico, according to Gonzales.

Detectives found a single-blade knife believed to have been used in the attack.