The suspect in San Jose's latest homicide refused to leave his cell Friday and face a judge.
Leonardo Soulett, a former MMA fighter, is accused of choking a man to death inside a liquor store -- one of eight homicides already reported in San Jose this year.
Soulett was arrested Monday night. Court documents allege he followed Zachariah Fierro into a liquor store on Leigh Avenue. An investigator's report said Soulett without warning ripped off Fierro's shirt, punched him, and put him in a choke hold for eight minutes.
Fierro was unresponsive when police arrived. His death marks city's eighth homicide victim of 2024, an abnormally high number so early in the year for San Jose.
"I think it's worth taking a look at," said Michael Leininger, a retired SJPD officer and law enforcement analyst. "It's an unusually strong start for 2024."
San Jose is on pace to reach 48 homicides this year, which would be the most since the city saw 47 homicides in 2016. Every year since mostly registered a total number of homicides in the low 30s.
"If you do the analysis, you have to take a look: Are there any emerging patterns? For instance homicides. Has there been a number of domestic violence cases? Are there robbery cases? Are they random?" Leininger said.
San Jose police records show so far the homicides have ranged from possibly gang related to the result of a fight or other altercation.
But for a city that prides itself on being one of the safest, San Jose's homicide rate has never outpaced the smaller cities of San Francisco and Oakland.
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The early increase is something San Jose's new police chief will face, when she or he is appointed later this year. The new chief will also inherit a big positive: SJPD said it has already solved seven of the eight homicides this year and every homicide over the last two years.
"The San Jose Police Department has had a strong showing in solving homicides," Leininger said. "They're good at what they do."
Even with eight homicides so far this year, Leininger said San Jose still remains a safe big city.
