Twelve people have been identified as victims in a series of attacks last year that left four dead, most of them homeless men.

Some were injured while they were sleeping or struck in the head from behind, a prosecutor said Tuesday during a brief court hearing in San Diego. A couple of the men who were killed had had railroad spikes driven into their heads or chests. Two of the victims were set on fire.

Jon David Guerrero, 40, was arrested last summer after an intense, nearly two-week-long manhunt. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges including murder, premeditated attempted murder, arson and assault.

The district attorney’s office has not said whether it will seek the death penalty if Guerrero is convicted or life in prison without the possibility of parole.


On Tuesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser ordered the defendant to be held without bail. A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for July 11, when a different judge will be asked to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to go to trial.

Guerrero initially was expected to be arraigned shortly after his arrest in July. But criminal proceedings were suspended when his lawyer raised questions about his competency.

Guerrero was sent to a state mental hospital in San Bernardino County until doctors determined he was able to understand the court proceedings and assist in his own defense. A judge ruled last month that the case would resume.

At the arraignment Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Makenzie Harvey said the charges stemmed from a series of attacks that began in February 2016, earlier than previously reported.


On Feb. 8, 2016, a victim who had been asleep on a sidewalk awoke to being stabbed in the face and neck with something sharp, the prosecutor said. The victim chased the attacker, who dropped a flashlight. Guerrero’s DNA was on that flashlight, Harvey said.

The first fatality was Angelo DeNardo, 53, whose body was found July 3 under a freeway bridge in Bay Park. A railroad spike had been driven into his head and chest. He was then lit on fire. The body of Shawn Mitchell Longley, 41, was found the next day in Ocean Beach. Dionicio Derek Vahidy, 23, was injured July 6 and died days later.

Guerrero also was charged in the death of 83-year-old Molly Simons, who was attacked July 13 while she walked to a bus stop in North Park. The prosecutor said Guerrero rode by on his bike and struck Simons in the head. She died at a hospital about three weeks later.

At the time of Guerrero’s arrest July 15, police recovered a backpack they said belonged to the defendant. In it, they found a mallet that appeared to have blood on it and three railroad spikes, Harvey said.


dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

MORE LOCAL NEWS

Woman killed in front of her toddlers; boyfriend suspected


Federal authorities raid Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens

At Police Commission hearing, LAPD and critics agree: policing alone isn’t the answer to homelessness