A Southern California man who died Tuesday after being stabbed by another driver in an apparent case of road rage after a minor traffic collision has been identified as a father of five, according to KTLA sister station KSWB in San Diego.
The attack that killed Horace Williams Jr., 36, of National City, took place around 9 a.m. in the area of Sweetwater Road and Willow Street near Chula Vista Golf Course, according to police. The two drivers had apparently been feuding on the road for at least a mile before the crash, investigators said.
“We have witness information that these vehicles were traveling while they were in some sort of a dispute,” Chula Vista police Capt. Phil Collum said. “We know that at one point a liquid was thrown from one vehicle to another.”
Tracy Ryan, who witnessed the stabbing, said everything happened very quickly after the minivan rear-ended the pickup. The San Diego Union-Tribune identified the driver of the pickup as 60-year-old FedEx worker Rickey Smith, of San Diego.
“You could tell that he [the pickup driver] was really mad. And then the guy in the van — the victim — rolled down the window and the guy just started punching him while he was still seated in the van,” Ryan told KSWB. “And then I seen the FedEx guy, he reached into his pocket, he grabbed a knife and he just started stabbing him right there, and the guy was still seated.”
Ryan said the wounded minivan driver stumbled out of the vehicle and collapsed on the road.
“He fell like four times, banging his head each time, and I saw the blood everywhere,” Ryan said.
A passing motorist stopped and began CPR on Williams until paramedics arrived. They continued CPR and took him to a hospital where he later died.
Williams had five daughters and was engaged to be married.
Smith remained at the scene until police arrived. He was arrested and booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of first degree murder.
As of Wednesday, police were still trying to gather facts and discover the motive for the violence.
“I don’t know if the source of that altercation was some sort of dispute about traffic,” Collum said. “I don’t know if the two individuals know each other — don’t know whether this was a drug deal gone badly. I don’t know if it was just an argument, so I’m still hesitant to call road rage.”
A GoFundMe campaign is raising money to help the family with funeral costs and other expenses.