The Willow Glen Resident

Teen killed June 13 in Willow Glen stabbing

Police search for witnesses to brutal Saturday assault

By Rebecca Wallace

June 13 was a lazy, sunny Saturday that drew many dog-walkers and window-shoppers out to wander the streets of Willow Glen. San Jose police are hoping that one of these people can give information about a brutal stabbing on the corner of Willow Street and Settle Avenue that left a 14-year-old San Jose boy dead.

"This is Willow Glen at 5:40 on a Saturday afternoon. You've got a lot of people out there walking around. We're hoping that people might have seen the victim or suspect beforehand," San Jose Police Officer Louis Quezada said.

The boy, identified by the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office as Oscar Perez, was taken to Valley Medical Center after being stabbed multiple times, and he died at 7:17 p.m. It was the day before his 15th birthday.

Perez had briefly been a student in the San Jose Unified School District but dropped out of Burnett Middle School on N. Second Street about a year ago, district spokesperson Maureen Munroe said.

Police said Oscar was walking with a girl westbound along Willow Street when the two began to argue with a group of five to eight Hispanic males and females in their late teens or early 20s who were driving by in a smaller white vehicle. Quezada said he did not know if the suspects knew the two.

The group in the vehicle gave chase and caught up with Oscar at Willow and Settle, where he was stabbed numerous times, Quezada said. The suspects fled and have not been apprehended. No weapon or vehicle has been found.

"We're not sure if one or more than one person actually stabbed the victim," Quezada said, adding that this is Willow Glen's first homicide this year.

Investigators are interviewing friends and family members of the victim in an attempt to determine whether the suspects knew him.

"I really love [Willow Glen]," Quezada said. "It's such a nice quaint little area that we don't usually have things like this. But it can happen anywhere."

Anyone with information about the killing should call San Jose Police Homicide detectives Sgt. Ernie Alcantar or Sgt. Pete Ramirez at 277-5283. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 947-STOP.

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