Authorities have identified the homeless man who police say was killed by a USC student in an altercation this week on Greek Row.
The victim was Xavier Cerf, 27, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
Ivan Gallegos, 19, is being held on $2 million bail after Los Angeles police said he and two other people confronted Cerf breaking into a car, and Gallegos pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed him.
The confrontation occurred Monday shortly after 8 p.m. in the 700 block of West 28th Street, police said. Gallegos remained at the scene after the stabbing, cooperated with investigators and was later booked, according to police. The other two men who were with him were questioned and released.
Police said they found Cerf in a nearby alley suffering from stab wounds and when paramedics arrived he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hours after homicide investigators cleaned up the crime scene Tuesday, a trail of blood dried in an alley behind a row of USC fraternity buildings. The trail began near the Delta Tau Delta house and wound its way around broken beer bottles, discarded Zyn nicotine containers, and painted wood from fraternity-themed parties.
Gallegos told officers that the man who broke into the car claimed he was armed with a gun, according to LAPD Acting Chief Dominic Choi. But a law enforcement source told the Times that no weapons were recovered at the scene. The district attorney has not filed charges against Gallegos.
