Left inset: Labh Nigah (Oxnard Police Department). Right inset: Jose Jimenez (Ventura County District Attorney's Office). Background: The area where California father Labh Nigah was allegedly stabbed to death by Jose Jimenez as students at a nearby school watched in horror (KCBS/YouTUbe).
A California father dropped his son off for class and then got stabbed to death in broad daylight by a stranger as students watched in horror from the schoolyard, according to police and prosecutors.
Jose Jimenez, 32, was arrested and charged on April 2 with murder for the 2014 slaying, which unfolded in front of "grade-school" children at Sierra Linda Elementary School in nearby Sierra Linda Park and left 55-year-old Labh Nigah dead in front of his son's classmates, according to local officials.
The case went unsolved for more than 11 years before Jimenez's arrest was announced this week by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office and Oxnard Police.
"This was an ambush and a brutal crime committed in broad daylight against a completely unsuspecting victim," said Ventura County DA Erik Nasarenko in a press release.
"While nothing can undo the harm caused to Mr. Nigah's family, the arrest and filing of charges represents an important step toward accountability," Nasarenko said. "This case is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our law enforcement partners and the power of advancing forensic technology to deliver justice, no matter how much time has passed."
Nigah was doing laps on a walking path in Sierra Linda Park across the street from his son's school, which he reportedly did every weekday, when Jimenez attacked him with a knife and stabbed him multiple times around 8:40 a.m., according to officials.
"This was a truly heinous crime," said Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites at a Monday press conference. "This occurred in broad daylight, in a public park, next to an elementary school that was in session," Benites recounted. "Witnesses to Labh's murder included people in the park, teachers, and school staff. Worst yet, grade-school students who were in the schoolyard also witnessed this."
Nigah had just walked his son to the nearby elementary school before being "attacked in broad daylight," the DA's office said in its release. "Authorities believe the attack was random," according to the release.
Family members say Nigah was a husband and father of three who worked as a clerk at a local convenience store. He is described by the DA's office and loved ones as a "hardworking and dedicated provider who prioritized his children's education and future" after immigrating to the U.S. from India.
"There is no evidence that the victim knew the defendant or the defendant knew the victim," Nasarenko told reporters at Monday's press conference. "By all accounts, they were total and complete strangers to one another and this was a random, unprovoked and brutal murder."
Nigah's family told reporters that "not having a name for who had done this was beginning to become its own form of closure" after more than a decade of having no idea, according to his daughter Harleen Kaur. "So for it to come back after 11 years that we have a name on one hand is genuinely amazing," Kaur said.
Jimenez is charged in Ventura County Superior Court with one count of murder and three special allegations of personally using a knife in the commission of the offense, participating in a killing that involved great violence, and harming a victim who was "particularly vulnerable," according to the DA's office.
Jimenez remained in custody on Tuesday as prosecutors successfully argued that bail should be increased to $1 million, per the DA's office. His next court date is scheduled for April 28.
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