A brush fire in National City led police to a gruesome discovery: a man apparently shot to death and then burned in a pile of garbage.
The National City Fire Dept. responded to the brush fire just after 1:30 p.m. near 2400 Harbison Ave. on Wednesday, Oct. 5. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they found the remains of the victim, who had multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Police have identified the victim as 55-year-old Jaime Barba and the suspect as 42-year-old Juan Carlos Acosta-Sanchez.
A police investigation led authorities to a neighborhood in San Diego near 1600 Dahlia Ave. Police say Barba was killed on Monday, October 3rd after an argument with Acosta-Sanchez. They believe the two knew each other.
ABC 10News spoke with a father and daughter who say Acosta-Sanchez was their next-door neighbor and that they heard a loud argument on the night of Barba’s death.
“I did hear him fighting…not fighting but arguing with somebody,” said the daughter.
She says her family was stunned to learn the news.
“He seemed normal…he didn’t really cause a problem except for making noise at 2 a.m.,” she said.
She says after they heard the heated argument, she peeked over the backyard fence they shared with Acosta-Sanchez and saw a man injured on the ground.
“I did see a guy laying on the floor. He was right here on his stomach…like in pain. And I didn’t say anything…I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
She said she was afraid and did not want to get involved.
Police believe Acosta-Sanchez then took Barba’s body to National City where they found the burning remains on Wednesday.
“I’m just shocked. Because like now he’s in jail. I would never have thought he would do that,” she said.
Acosta-Sanchez was arrested in Imperial Beach on Friday, October 7th. He is being held at the San Diego County Jail on one count of murder.
