SAN DIEGO — A suspect was arrested this week in connection with the slaying of an 18-year-old Navy man who was gunned down in August near Petco Park.
Ta'Kari Terell Benness, 20, was taken into custody Wednesday in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on suspicion of fatally shooting Albert Soto of Queens, New York, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Patrol officers responding to reports of gunfire found Soto mortally wounded at the intersection of F Street and Ninth Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. Aug. 31, SDPD Lt. Lou Maggi said.
The victim, who served aboard the San Diego-based destroyer USS Pinckney, was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
On the night of his death, Soto and some friends of his got into a hostile confrontation with four men inside a downtown San Diego nightclub, according to police. The groups eventually left the venue via separate exits, but continued arguing outside intermittently for about a half-hour, until the fatal gunfire erupted.
The shooter and his cohorts then ran off to the east, Maggi said.
Soto had reported to San Diego for military service in April, six months after enlisting, according to the Navy.
