Leads Sought in 2 Oxnard Homicides

Oxnard police are investigating the deaths of two men in separate shootings over the weekend.

Oscar Rosendo Ponce, 33, was found in the alley of the 3000 block of South G Street about 12:30 a.m. Sunday with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. About 4:30 a.m. Monday, the body of a 20-year-old Oxnard resident was found in the alley of the 600 block of South E Street. He had been shot in the head.

Ventura County coroner’s officials did not release the name of the second victim, pending notification of relatives.

Police received several calls from nearby residents at the time Ponce was shot, but it wasn’t until a man on his way to work noticed the second victim that authorities were notified in that incident. Interviewed later, several South E Street residents said they had heard shots hours before the body was discovered.

No arrests have been made, and detectives have not determined a motive in either homicide, said Cmdr. Bryan MacDonald of the Oxnard Police Department investigation bureau.

He said neither shooting was considered gang related, and they did not appear to be connected to each other.

“There’s no way you can predict this kind of event,” MacDonald said. “Contrary to popular thinking, being in Oxnard after dark is usually very safe.”

Anyone with information about either shooting should contact the Oxnard Police detective bureau at 385-7605 or call the department’s violent crime hotline at 982-7070.

These were Oxnard’s 12th and 13th homicides of 2004. The city had 23 homicides in 2003.