Unidentified woman struck, killed by freight train

A woman died after she was struck by a freight train in San Diego early Friday morning, San Diego police said.

An operator with the trolley system called police shortly after 2 a.m. to report the train strike at Beyer Boulevard and Smythe Avenue, Officer Dave O’Brien said.

The unidentified woman died at the scene. She was about 50 years old, O’Brien said.

No further details were immediately available.

Navy sailor gets nearly six years for manslaughter after woman dies in Midway-area motel

SAN DIEGO

A Navy sailor who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 32-year-old woman’s death at a Midway-area motel was sentenced Thursday to nearly six years in state prison.

Marquise Tyree Wisher, 28, pleaded guilty earlier this year to causing the death of Rosa Jaco in 2020.

Wisher, who was previously charged with murder in connection with Jaco’s death, also pleaded guilty to domestic violence and false imprisonment counts for a separate incident involving his wife, which occurred less than two months before Jaco died.

Shortly after 11 p.m. May 4, 2020, paramedics responding to a call for medical aid at a motel on Greenwood Street near Hancock Street found Jaco unconscious and unresponsive.

At Wisher’s arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Matzger said investigators determined Jaco had been strangled, and alleged that Wisher’s DNA was found underneath the victim’s fingernails.

At sentencing, the victim’s mother, Yolanda Jaco, expressed anger and disbelief over what she said was a light punishment, and stated that she had a family member who received more time for drug offenses than Wisher did for killing someone.

She and other family members shared their feelings of loss with the court, as well as their struggles caring for Jaco’s four children.

In a statement he made to the court, Wisher said: “I never intended to cause the victim any harm, but I know I have to take responsibility for my actions. I don’t blame anyone but myself. I pray that one day, I’ll be forgiven for my crime.”

House fire spreads in high winds, but crews keep flames contained to quarter-acre

EAST COUNTY

High Santa Ana winds whipped flames from an East County house fire into nearby grass, but a robust response by fire crews kept it from racing out of control Friday.

The fire was reported about 11:30 a.m. at a single-family home on Dehesa Road in the Harbison Canyon area, Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots said.

The high winds prompted fire officials to call in both ground and air crews, he said.

Crews arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames, and fire burning in the surrounding vegetation.

“There was a lot of potential” for the fire to spread, Shoots said. “At the time, the wind was blowing pretty good.”

Neighboring agencies jumped in to help, including crews from Sycuan and Alpine fire departments, as well as from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ground crews got the fire out before the airplanes and helicopters needed to make any water or retardant drops, Shoots said.

The house fire displaced two adults and three children, he said.

The Red Cross was called into help the fire victims.