Father Of Two Mourned At County Line Beach
Written by 991KBU on June 24, 2019
A circle of 25 people stood quietly on the side of Pacific Coast Highway at the western end of Malibu yesterday evening.
Flowers and votive candles on the pavement.
Inside the Neptune’s Net restaurant … hundreds of tourists and locals chowed down on calamari and fish … mostly oblivious to the tragedy of the night before.
In the parking lot … hours after the restaurant had closed Saturday night … a man had been knifed to death.
Omar Payera … a 23 year old father of two little girls … had his throat slashed and body stabbed.
It was a fight amidst a large group of car enthusiasts and graffiti painters … a loose crowd that races up and down P C H late at night … and congregates in large numbers at county line beach … and in the parking lot of the closed restaurant.
The slashing stemmed from a “previously unresolved issue” … according to Ventura County sheriff’s deputies.
Daniel Maldonado, 30, of Ontario (San Bernardino County), was arrested at the scene by Ventura County deputies and California State Parks rangers. Video from the scene showed the suspect sitting on a curb and being interviewed by deputies, the image clearly matches Maldonado’s booking shot released later in the day.
Neptunes Net managers said they were planning to add gates to the parking lot … and noted that the incident was unrelated to the restaurant .. which had closed earlier.
Back in the parking lot last night … the circle of young people grieving included this man.
NEWSCART 75173 MURDER SOT qqq just a cruise (2X)
MONO MIX LEFT CHANNEL ONLY
“He was just a big guy, a big heart, you know.
“A very respectable guy.
“A father, you know, he left the two girls behind, unfortunately.
“Unfortunately He left two girls behind.
“Still in shock, you now, how could this happen?
“He thought it was just a cruise, you know?
“Just a cruise.”
As is typical in a murder like this … his friends are organizing a car wash today to raise money for the funeral.
It’s in La Puente.
They also have GoFundMe page.
Saturday night’s murder comes as dramatically increasing numbers of racers, loud vehicles and lawlessness are observed on PCH at night in Malibu.
—-
That was only one of two dead bodies on either side of Malibu last Saturday.
In Santa Monica, a woman’s body was found in the bluffs above Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday afternoon.
She was found about 1 p.m. below the end of Montana Avenue, above P C H.
Police said the body was “severely” decomposed.
There was no immediate word on how long the person had been dead … or hif the death occurred in the bluffs or elsewhere.
