SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - One of four teenagers accused of fatally beating a man near Petco Park was charged Tuesday with murder and torture.
San Diego Police said Dominick Wells, 19, and three juvenile females aged 14, 15 and 17 attacked Edward Starland near a bridge behind the ballpark the afternoon of Nov. 18.
Witnesses said Starland had been fighting with the group before he was thrown to the ground and beaten. The group ran off down Imperial Avenue.
Starland’s sister Catherine flew to San Diego from Florida to be by his side when he was on life support in the hospital. She said her brother had a heart condition and a pacemaker, and didn’t know why anyone would attack him.
"I came here for my brother because I don't want him to be alone. I want him to know I'm by his side; when he wakes up he knows I'm here,” she said.
Starland, 56, died of his injuries Dec. 3.
Police later arrested the teens. Wells is currently being held on a first-degree murder charge at San Diego Central Jail. The girls were later arrested on suspicion of felony battery.
Prosecutors told 10News Tuesday the girls would likely be charged with murder and torture, but did not say if the charges would be filed in juvenile court.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call SDPD’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
