SAN DIEGO – Police are looking for three people in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left a woman dead in City Heights Wednesday morning.
The incident was reported in the 4100 block of Wilson Avenue as a vehicle rescue just after 10 a.m.
Neighbors and paramedics worked together to lift the Toyota off the woman, but she was declared dead at the scene. She was later identified as 29-year-old Jazmine Leigh Ruiz of San Diego.
San Diego police at the scene told 10News the woman was likely struck by a white, older model Toyota sedan, which was abandoned near the victim's body. Witnesses told officers they saw three people -- two Hispanic men and a woman -- running from the scene.
According to witnesses, the victim, who appeared to have blood on her shirt, split off from the two men.
Some witnesses said they heard some sort of confrontation just before the incident. Detectives found blood in several spots inside of the car, leading police to believe there was a violent fight there too.
A woman said she has seen the Toyota in her neighborhood before. It's registered to someone living in another part of town, 10News learned.
Maria Acevedo told 10News, "When I saw the car, I said, 'Oh my God, that's the car. They always have problems."
She remembered a man and woman in a heated argument months ago.
"I saw them arguing; she was forcing him to give her the keys to the car. He was pushing away and she slammed the door on him and then she ran across the street and went by the school to hide," Acevedo said.
Acting SDPD Lt. Manny Del Toro told reporters they don’t know if it might have been a carjacking or something else.
"That's our roadblock at this point. We don't know if there was any relationship. We don't know what the motive was," Del Toro said.
All three suspects are believed to be in their 20s.
Police issued the following news release regarding the incident on April 21:
On April 20, 2016, San Diego Police responded to a call of a pedestrian involved vehicle collision in the west alley of 4100 Wilson Avenue in San Diego. Police, Fire Department and Medics arrived and they located a Hispanic female under a vehicle with extensive injuries to her upper body. Emergency personnel were able to pull her out from underneath the vehicle and administered first aid. Despite diligent efforts, the female died at the scene.San Diego Police Homicide Detectives have determined the woman was physically assaulted before she was struck by the vehicle and are investigating this incident as a homicide.Detectives continue to interview potential witnesses and have positively identified the female victim as 29-year-old, Jazmine Leigh Ruiz of San Diego.Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
