An underage suspect was in custody Thursday on suspicion of fatally stabbing a teenage boy this week in Oceanside.
The alleged assailant was arrested Wednesday, said Jennifer Atenza, spokeswoman for the Oceanside Police Department. His name was withheld because he is a minor. Atenza said she could not provide his age.
The suspect allegedly stabbed 16-year-old Justin Ferguson of Oceanside in the chest shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday in a parking lot at Martin Luther King Jr. Park on Mesa Drive.
Following the assault, an acquaintance drove the victim away from the park, then pulled over a few blocks to the west. From there, paramedics took the boy to Tri-City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead late in the evening.
The circumstances that led to the stabbing remained unclear Thursday.
Updated at 12:05 p.m. Oct. 20, 2022
— City News Service