Lodi man beaten to death

Suspect jailed on suspicion of murder

A Lodi man was beaten to death in a Downtown parking lot early Friday, and police soon arrested a male suspect three blocks away.

Officers were first called at 2:05 a.m. to a fight at Sacramento and Elm streets, and the fight had apparently moved to a public parking lot west of Sacramento Street.

There police found Neal Eugene Singer, 35, lying face down with major head injuries, Lodi police said. He had suffered multiple skull fractures.

Three blocks away, officers found 37-year-old Juan Velazquez, who witnesses identified as a suspect, police said.

Velazquez was arrested and jailed on suspicion of murder. No formal charges were filed Friday, meaning that Velazquez will spend the weekend in jail before making his first court appearance.

Singer's grieving family members knew very little about the circumstances surrounding his death and would not comment further.

Police also offered few details Friday.

A woman, who asked that her name not be used because she witnessed the incident, said several men were ganging up on the victim and that the suspect then picked up a brick and continued the attack.

The crime scene, at the north end of the parking lot, was cleared later Friday, and the lot soon filled with cars, as it normally does on business days.

At Payless Market, on the corner of Sacramento and Elm streets, Spanish-speaking bystanders looked intently at Velazquez's photo but said they did not recognize him.

Market employee Muhammad Zubair said he'd seen Velazquez walking in the area occasionally, and said the man sometimes drank alcohol. He knew little about the man, but said he did not appear to be homeless.

Police were looking into Velazquez's immigration status, though he had apparently been in Lodi since at least October, when he was arrested on a misdemeanor that was later dismissed. A felony case was dismissed March 4; in both cases he needed an interpreter's assistance in court.

Lodi police asked anyone with information on the case to contact them at 333-6727, or by calling their anonymous tip line at 333-6734.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.