A man suspected of murder was arrested today for the fatal shooting of 55-year-old Jaime Barba, whose body was found in a National City incident.
According to San Diego Police Lt. Steve Shebloski, 42-year-old Juan Carlos Sanches was arrested on Friday in Imperial Beach on one felony count of first-degree murder. He was booked into San Diego County jail.
The National City Fire Department responded to a brush fire near 2400 Harbison
Avenue at about 1:35 p.m. when “upon arriving, fire department personnel saw what appeared to be a large pile of trash engulfed in flames,'' Shebloski said. “As fire department
personnel extinguished the flames, they located a deceased male on the ground within the debris.''
The National City Police Department responded to the scene and investigated the death. According to police, an autopsy revealed the victim had been shot in his upper body multiple times.
“It appeared his body was disposed of at the location of the fire,” Police wrote in a statement.
Investigators said the suspect and the victim knew each other, and the victim was fatally shot during an argument.
A joint investigation was opened with the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit, which assumed responsibility for the investigation.
Investigators said the victim was killed in a converted building in the 1600 block of Dahlia Avenue in San Diego in the afternoon hours of Oct. 3. Police said the suspect transported and disposed of the victim's body at the location of the fire.
Anyone with information regarding the crime was asked to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
