Homeless amputee beaten to death with own crutch

http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080415-1226-bn15beaten.html

By Debbi Farr Baker

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

12:26 p.m. April 15, 2008

Update: Victim ID'd The victim has been identified as Gregary Willis, 41, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. He is survived by his mother, who lives in San Diego. An autopsy is scheduled for later Tuesday.

SAN DIEGO – A homeless amputee was beaten to death with his own crutch Monday night on a downtown sidewalk.

Several witnesses reported that the 41-year-old victim had gotten into an argument with another man on F Street near Eighth Avenue in the Core-Columbia neighborhood just before midnight, homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney said.

During the fight the man picked up the victim's crutch and hit him with it, said Rooney.

Paramedics tried to revive him but he died about a hour later at a trauma center.

The attacker was described as Latino and in his 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 170 pounds with a mustache and a sparse beard, Rooney said.

He was last seen near Seventh Avenue and G Street.