A Vallejo police detective talks on a cell phone near a group of other officers while standing in the middle of a residential street during the daytime. Two bright green evidence placards can be seen center frame.
Investigators confer at a homicide scene near the intersection of Ohio Street and Sonoma Boulevard in Vallejo, Calif. on Jan. 3, 2024. Credit: Geoffrey King / Open Vallejo

A man was found dead at the intersection of Ohio Street and Sonoma Boulevard Wednesday, in what authorities said was Vallejo’s first homicide of the new year.

Vallejo officers scoured the neighborhood for cameras as the man lay under a rumpled yellow tarp late Wednesday morning. A cushion stained with what appeared to be blood was found next to his body.

A Vallejo police corporal winds up crime scene tape during daytime.
Vallejo Police Cpl. Matthew Komoda removes police tape at the scene of the city’s first homicide of the new year on Jan. 3, 2024, just blocks from where he shot and wounded a robbery suspect last November. Credit: Geoffrey King / Open Vallejo

The Solano County Coroner’s Office declined to release the name of the victim or other details, citing an investigative hold by Vallejo police. A spokesperson for the Vallejo Police Department did not respond to calls for comment.

Witnesses expressed surprise and sorrow over the killing, among them Tara Beasley-Stansberry, a member of the Vallejo Police Chief’s Advisory Board. Standing behind a length of crime scene tape with other civilians, she said the dead man was a laborer she estimated to be in his 60s, who had been hired to help paint a nearby building.

“His jeans were always pressed,” Beasley-Stansberry said, “even when he was going to work.”

Vallejo experienced 22 homicides in 2023, according to public records.

Geoffrey King is the executive editor of Open Vallejo. Prior to founding Open Vallejo, Geoffrey worked as an attorney and journalist focused on free expression, open government, press freedom and privacy. He is a proud native of Vallejo, California.