Stabbing homicide in downtown Santa Rosa, third homeless killing this year

The fatal stabbing of a man found dead early Monday in a bloody scene on a downtown Santa Rosa sidewalk - the third homicide involving a homeless victim this year - has crystalized again the randomness of violence among a population seemingly impervious to the current efforts of police, local government and homeless ?advocates.

Cirak Mateos Tesfazgi, 32, of Santa Rosa, was found about 12:55 a.m. just outside the doorway of a Sonoma County Department of Health Services office at 418 Riley St. after police responded to a report of a man down. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said personal effects of Tesfazgi’s found near the doorway show “he could have been resting or preparing for sleep” when the assault came, said detective Sgt. Josh Ludtke.

“It was obviously a homicide,” he said.

Tesfazgi was a member of the local Eritrean community, friends said. Homeless since 2009, according to police, he was well known among customers frequenting some downtown businesses.

Yodit Gebre, owner of the Holy Roast coffee shop, said he was a regular who came in every day to drink coffee and read. “He was very polite,” she said.

Alan Powell, an investigator in the public health disease control unit at the county office in the 400 block of Riley Street where Tesfazgi was killed, bought a book of his poetry a few years ago. He recalled Tesfazgi drinking coffee in the morning, rolling a cigarette, smiling.

“We see the homeless people every day because they sleep in our doorways a lot,” Powell said, adding he saw Tesfazgi nearly every day. “My experience with him is that I have seen him for about five years and he was killed in the doorway that we go into work every day.”

Tension is high among the homeless population as a result of the violence, said Jennielynn Holmes, director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities.

“You already feel exposed and so vulnerable,” she said. “This adds another level of trauma and uncertainty.”

The local Catholic organization, which operates shelters and offers services to the homeless, will make counseling available to anyone who knew Tesfazgi.

“We want to make sure the homeless population is OK,” Holmes said.

Officials estimate 2,000 people are living without permanent shelter in Sonoma County as a whole, a homelessness rate higher than San Francisco and three times the national average of about 18 homeless people per 10,000 people in the general population.

While overall numbers are down from the previous year, the profile of homeless people has increased as they have been forced from camps by cleanups along creeks and preparations for the arrival of a new commuter train. Many turn up at storefronts and on median strips, in city parks and under freeway overpasses.

The problem has become so pointed that next month the Santa Rosa City Council will consider declaring a homeless emergency as part of a slate of measures intended to get people off the streets.

Police are flooded with complaints about public drunkenness, aggressive panhandling and loud fights at all hours.

They arrested a man in connection with the brutal beating last month of a homeless man at Rae Park across the street from City Hall. There has been no arrest in the case of a man shot to death in January at a homeless camp along the Prince Memorial Greenway.

“We know these are horrific crimes, alarming to our homeless residents as well as everyone who uses the downtown,” police Capt. Craig Schwartz said. “We want people to feel downtown is a safe place to live, work and play. I really think it is.”

Police resources will be focused on “finding our suspects and bringing a sense of relief to the community,” Schwartz said.

The high cost of rental housing in Sonoma County complicates efforts to move homeless people from temporary shelters into permanent housing, Holmes said. The result is a nearly monthlong wait on getting people into Samuel L. Jones Hall, the county’s largest adult shelter.

Catholic Charities makes repeated efforts to get homeless people on track for shelter, but about 10 percent of those contacted have spurned the offer, Holmes said. “We don’t give up,” she added.

Ludtke asked anyone with information about the stabbing to contact detectives at 543-3590. Also, up to $2,500 in reward money from the Sonoma County Alliance is available for information leading to an arrest and conviction, police said.

Staff Writer Christi Warren contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner. You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.