Hoopa stabbing death under homicide investigation, uncle arrested for murder
A 34-year-old Hoopa man died inside a Pine Creek Road home after a 5:01 a.m. stabbing call, and deputies arrested his uncle, Travis Watson, for murder.
A family argument on Pine Creek Road ended with a 34-year-old Hoopa man dead inside his home, and his nephew now sits in the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on a murder charge.
Deputies and dispatchers were alerted at about 5:01 a.m. May 2 to a stabbing in the 2700 block of Pine Creek Road after a caller said he had been physically attacked by his uncle and had responded by stabbing him. When deputies arrived, they found 31-year-old Travis Watson outside the residence, and additional deputies located the male victim inside the home. Deputies started life-saving measures until emergency medical personnel arrived, but paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division took over the investigation. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as James Luther Vernon Williams and notified his next of kin. Watson was arrested for PC 187(a) murder and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility.
The Sheriff’s Office said the case remained an active investigation and that no additional information would be released at that time. Anyone with information about the killing or related criminal activity was urged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Crime Tip Line at (707) 268-2539.
The death adds to a troubling run of serious violence in Hoopa this spring. In a separate March 10 shooting investigation, sheriff’s investigators said multiple suspects were identified, then announced on March 13 that the victim had died and that murder charges would be sought against all three suspects. County announcements later identified 15-year-old Preston Lee Ruiz II, who was arrested on a no-bail warrant, and 18-year-old William Randolph-Billy Warren of Hoopa, who was taken into custody in Eureka.
In another Hoopa homicide investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said on March 18 that arrest warrants had been obtained for two juveniles, ages 13 and 15, who were surrendered by a parent to deputies that same day. With this latest death on Pine Creek Road, investigators are again sorting through a violent scene that began as a domestic call and ended with a homicide case, a sealed-off home, and a family left to absorb the loss.
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