EL RIO : Man Charged in the Slaying of Youth, 16

An El Rio man was charged Wednesday in the killing of a 16-year-old youth whom he allegedly challenged to a fistfight and then stabbed with a butcher knife, prosecutors said.

The Ventura County grand jury, in its first indictment, charged Ralph Daniel Hernandez, 19, in the June 9 slaying of Jesse Joe Camarillo. Hernandez was being held at the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

“Hernandez, in my opinion, is kind of a volatile man and was looking for trouble, looking for someone to hurt,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Saundra Brewer said. “Camarillo was kind of a gullible guy who decided he was going to engage in a fistfight.”

Investigation showed that Hernandez and Camarillo belonged to gangs, Brewer said. But she said she did not believe the motivation for the murder was gang-related.

Camarillo and four friends had gathered in the street near Hernandez’s mailbox when Hernandez arrived home about 1:30 a.m., Brewer said. A friend of Camarillo said he and Camarillo had just left a party in the neighborhood when they stopped to talk with Hernandez’s sister, Tina. Hernandez then began cursing at Camarillo, the friend said.

Hernandez exchanged obscenities and gang identifications with Camarillo, Brewer said. He then went into his house and returned with a concealed eight-inch butcher knife. Hernandez challenged Camarillo to a fight, Brewer said.

Seconds into the fight, Hernandez began stabbing Camarillo, Brewer said.

One of the stab wounds punctured Camarillo’s heart. He suffered additional stab wounds to the chest, she said.