Police: Despite weekend homicide, crime rate still low in Oxnard

Oxnard police are investigating their 9th homicide of 2018. A 17-year-old teenager from Oxnard was arrested in connection with the latest homicide.

Just last week three homicides occurred in a matter of 24 hours.

“Some of the questions that the public is asking is if these homicides are related and I will tell the public you have nothing to fear, these are isolated incidents,” said Giles.

Despite the tragic week, police say crime in the city is actually down.

“Our homicides this time last year, we had 10 homicides,” said Giles. “At this date in time, we are at 9. Overall crime in the city of Oxnard is down 6.5 percent.”

On Sunday, July 1, Oxnard police received a call around 3:30 a.m. of a shooting inside the Homewood Suites hotel located on Solar Drive in Oxnard. Officers found 29-year-old Donald Reyes Jr. from Newbury Park dead inside a room on the first floor. He was shot multiple times, according to investigators.

“Once on scene, detectives conducted interviews with witnesses that were at the location, and also obtained surveillance video,” said Sharon Giles, Commander with the Oxnard Police Department.

Detectives say the 17-year-old teen suspect and Reyes were involved in an argument before he was shot.

“I do not know specifically the relationship except that they do know each other,” said Giles. “They were all in that hotel room together.”

Even though police say crime is down, motor vehicle theft is on the rise. An additional 29 vehicles were stolen this year. As for Sunday’s homicide, it is still under investigation.