2 Oxnard Teens Stabbed in Gang Fight in Fillmore

A 19-year-old Oxnard man was in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest during a gang brawl Saturday outside a house in Fillmore, authorities said.

Luis Morales was hospitalized at the Ventura County Medical Center. Sheriff’s Department officials said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Morales’ friend, Jesus Ramirez, 19, also of Oxnard, suffered a minor stab wound in the leg during the fight. He was treated at the same hospital and released.

According to Sgt. Ernie Montagna, Morales and Ramirez arrived at a friend’s house in the 400 block of Old Telephone Road shortly after midnight when they were confronted by several men in a car.

Words were exchanged and a fight ensued, Montagna said. The fight lasted a few minutes before the suspects fled.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies spotted the suspects’ vehicle a few blocks from the scene and arrested three men.

Fillmore residents Hector Enrique, 36; Eddie Murillo, 25; and Albert Martinez, 25, were each taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy and assault with a deadly weapon.

The cause of the melee remained under investigation, but authorities said that all the men involved are either gang members or associates of rival gangs from Oxnard and Fillmore.

The stabbings mark the second serious act of gang violence in the city in less than a month. Although dozens of gang members reside in Fillmore, violence is more frequently reported in neighboring Santa Paula or Oxnard.

On Sept. 7, Ariel Hernandez Acosta, 22, of Fillmore, was shot in front of his Palm Street home, allegedly by a neighborhood teenager with gang ties, authorities said.

Acosta was treated at a Santa Paula hospital and has since been released. The gunman remains at large.