SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Family members of a City Heights man are pleading for information after he was found dead in a drainage ditch on Sunday, a victim of foul play.
Clutching photos of their son, the parents of Jimmy Khieu, 32, broke down as they spoke of him.
"Somebody knows, please help me find who killed my son," said his mother Vyra Khieu.
His brother Jonas Ong says Khieu was always cracking jokes, making people laugh.
"Always made me smile. My brother was a real kind, nice person. He always put his family first," said Ong.
Khieu visited his mother at her City Heights home on Friday night.
"Just short of money. We told him to take some food from the house, and said he was going to come back Sunday," said Ong.
Sunday was the day set for a party for his mother's 63rd birthday. Khieu didn't show.
"What really saddened us was ... why wasn't our brother there?" said Ong.
The next day, the family got word of a body found in a drainage ditch behind a home in the 5100 block of Auburn Drive. Loved ones made the identification. Ong says police told him a neighbor thought he saw a man sleeping under a tree, until he took a closer look.
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"Lot of bruises, swollenness on his cheeks, and his mouth was busted. Bruises all over," said Ong.
Police say his upper body had trauma, but declined to get more specific about a cause of death. Khieu was found not near the home he shared with his girlfriend. Ong says he has no idea why someone would want this brother dead.
"Just to know he went out like this upsets me. I'm really angry and will do whatever it takes to get justice," said Ong.
If you have any information on the case, call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 or the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up for the family to help with funeral expenses.
