Homeless Man Arrested in Killing of Fellow Transient

Costa Mesa police arrested a homeless man on suspicion of killing a fellow transient who was found bludgeoned to death Friday morning behind a row of bushes the victim used as a sleeping area.

Jerry Patrick Keating, 39, was being held at Costa Mesa Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail in connection with the slaying of a 46-year-old man who was among a group of transients who lived and slept around Harbor Boulevard. Keating will be arraigned Tuesday.

The victim’s name was not released because his relatives had not been notified, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith said.

“We don’t know why Keating assaulted him. Maybe there was an argument,” Smith said. “Robbery does not seem to be a motive.”

The man was apparently assaulted while he slept, police said. “He was covered up,” Smith said. “It was kind of cold last night.”

Another homeless man, who knew both the victim and Keating, found the body, ran to a motel, called police and flagged them down, Smith said.

Police were searching the neighborhood for the killer when an apartment manager asked them to “check out a guy in the laundry room,” Smith said.

“We opened the door and found Keating hiding,” Smith said. “There was blood on his clothes, but he wasn’t bleeding.”

The victim used to sleep in a parking lot at 2023 Harbor Blvd. next to a strip mall.

His body was covered in blankets behind a hutch of shrubs, and it appeared he had been viciously hit in the head, Smith said. “It looks like he was murdered with a blunt object,” he added.

Keating has refused to talk to police so far, the lieutenant said.