By Neal Putnam
A homeless man who killed his boyfriend in Balboa Park has been sentenced to five years in state prison.
Damon Deon Crudup, 48, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 4, 2018, death of Nicholas Turner, 38, who was stabbed with a butter knife between 8-9 a.m. in the Redwood Circle area of Balboa Park.
Turner’s sister, Jessica Turk, wrote a letter to San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon, saying she believed the stabbing was voluntary and not accidental. She wrote she didn’t like it that Crudup pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. A murder charge was then dismissed.
Turk wrote her brother’s life “ended too soon and much too violently.”
Shamoon imposed four years for manslaughter plus one year for personally using a knife in the crime.
Crudup said nothing before he was sentenced, and he made no statement to the probation department while they were preparing a sentencing report.
Shamoon ordered him to pay $793.94 in funeral costs and gave him credit of spending 944 days in jail. She fined him $1,724.
Witnesses said the couple were arguing about Turner spending time with another man and they wrestled and struck each other. One witness said she heard Turner say “Stab me again! Go ahead, stab me again!”
The same witness said she recalled Turner telling Crudup he would kill him even though Turner was the victim. She told police she thought she heard Crudup say “Ow, you are hurting me!”
The probation report said neither Crudup or Turner believed the wound was serious. However, when Turner passed out, Crudup used a cellphone — from the other man he suspected Turner was seeing — and called 911. Paramedics responded in the 2700 block of Balboa Drive.
Turner was taken to a hospital where he died at 10:23 a.m., about 1 1/2 hour after being stabbed. The cause of death was a stab wound 3 inches deep in the torso which injured Turner’s liver. He had methamphetamine and ephedrine in his system at the time of death, the toxicology report said.
Crudup tearfully told San Diego police detectives that he and Turner were pushing and hitting each other during the argument. Crudup said he was holding a butter knife and Turner “stuck himself” with it while pushing him. Crudup also said he was holding the butter knife to protect himself as Turner “kept on coming” at him.
Detectives said they did not believe his story. Turner’s blood was found on the butter knife, according to the report.
