Overview: Hillcrest trial
Guerrero will return to court on Nov. 10 to set a trial date on the two remaining charges.
A judge dismissed a homicide charge Monday against a man after hearing medical testimony that the victim could have died from his head hitting the pavement in Hillcrest, and possibly other factors.
However, Solomon A. Guerrero, 56, remains in jail without bail because he was also ordered to stand trial on unrelated charges of failing to register as a sex offender and making a criminal threat to someone else on February 14.
Guerrero was accused of killing Jerry Puerile, 61, of Bay Park, who apparently fell down at the Shell service station at 4:54 p.m. at 330 Washington Street on March 1.
Puerile had driven into the station, and security cameras appeared to show that he had a brief conversation with Guerrero before getting out of his van and later collapsing at the station.
The security camera footage was shown in Guerrero’s preliminary hearing, which started Oct. 23 and ended Monday with the dismissal of the homicide charge by San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Parsky.
Detective Kelly Thibault-Hamill testified that the first police officer at the scene could not find a pulse for Puerile, and she rolled him over to do chest compressions until paramedics arrived.
Paramedics found Puerile not breathing, so he was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
The camera footage showed Guerrero as a pedestrian in a crosswalk, and Puerile driving his van, making a turn behind Guerrero. The brief conversation he had with Puerile at the service station followed that incident.
Thibault-Hamill said neither Puerile nor Guerrero knew each other. She said police officers arrested Guerrero a few blocks from the Shell station, and that he had blood on his hands and face.
A photo of the blood found on Guerrero was shown as evidence.
Thibault-Hamill said Guerrero was initially uncooperative but during an interview at police headquarters, “he appeared to be upset” when he learned the victim died.
The detective said police also found blood around the gas pumps at the station.
Dr. Debra Berry, who performed the autopsy, said Puerile died from blunt force trauma injuries, but that he also had an enlarged heart. She said the victim had an 85% blockage in several arteries to his heart.
Guerrero’s attorney, Matthew Wechter, asked Berry if Puerile’s physical appearance showed any sign of having heart problems, and she said no. Berry also told Parsky that Puerile had “a high level of methamphetamine” in his system when he died.
Deputy District Attorney Melanie Guillen urged the judge to order a homicide trial while Wechter talked about the medical conditions of the victim.
Guerrero will return to court on Nov. 10 to set a trial date on the two remaining charges.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility.
Guerrero was ordered in a previous misdemeanor case to register as a sex offender with the police department in his community, according to court records.
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