Residents say two deaths in two days in the Deco District have shaken the community, with the police detaining an 18-year-old suspect.
SAN ANTONIO — A man who works just a few feet from where a man was found apparently beaten to death early Sunday calls what is happening in the Deco District frightening: two murders in two days just 800 feet apart.
Police have not officially connected the two attacks, but neighbors have, saying both of the victims are well known members of the unhoused community in the area.
Of the first attack Sunday morning in an alley off the 1900 block of Fredericksburg Road, the witness, who didn’t want his name used, said “Kids pass through here going from school to home, people walk their dogs. People exercise around here. This is a very mobile as far as walkability neighborhood,” the man said. “It’s very pleasant, it’s very beautiful. The Deco District is thriving with new businesses, but how do we work with those that are unhoused, to give them dignity but also to protect ourselves?”
The second man, who was found unresponsive around 7 a.m. Monday, was found on the porch of a vacant commercial building in the 2000 block of Fredericksburg Road.
Police said they believe he is in his 60s and is well known to district officers.
“Two folks walking by saw an individual laying on the step over here who was apparently the victim of a blunt force trauma assault,” Police Chief William McManus said. “And we have a suspect in custody, an 18-year-old male.”
The neighbor, who said he watched police work the Sunday morning incident, said, “As a business owner and a resident in this little area here it is very concerning that this level of crime happened.”
The man said they are well accustomed to petty issues, so the current situation is rattling.
“We have our little things that happen with the homeless trespassing, using our water and stuff like that, but nothing has been to this level where it’s two murders in two days.”
Reflecting on the extreme violence of the two attacks involving serious head trauma, the man said, “There’s distinct people who are unhoused who need medical help, and then you have the criminal element who are just looking for bad things to do and this kind of combines all those into a very bad thing.”
Late Monday police declined to provide an update on whether the man they detained has been charged, saying only that the investigation continues.
McManus said, “We saw in him what we believe to be evidence of this assault here, but we’ll wait and see what detectives come up with.”
One business owner near the Monday attack said police had already uploaded video recorded by their surveillance system and there are numerous other cameras in the area.
The Medical Examiner has not released the name of either victim.