On Friday, May 31, a jury found Noah Mitchell Jackson guilty of the stabbing death of Walter “Ras” Riley, a well-known Ocean Beach homeless man known as “the Incense Man”.
After deliberating for nearly 2 and a half days, the jury found Jackson guilty of second-degree murder for the unprovoked knife attack on Riley on June 22, 2017. The fatal attack occurred on Bacon Street, near Newport Avenue after Jackson encountered Riley around 12:30 a.m.
According to Pauline Repard at the San Diego Union-Tribune:
In the three-week trial, Deputy District Attorney Michael Reilly said Jackson was angry at his girlfriend and high on drugs when he left a friend’s home in Ocean Beach apartment. Jackson was alleged to have walked around, encountering Riley around 12:30 a.m. Witnesses saw a man in a light gray hoodie attack the victim, then run off. One witness chased the killer, but lost him.
Various surveillance cameras recorded the hooded man running past businesses. A bank ATM camera got a closer image of the man, but attorneys in court argued whether that man looked like Jackson. Jackson did not testify in his trial.
A friend of Jackson tipped San Diego police that Jackson dumped a knife and cellphone into the ocean off Point Loma some time after Riley’s death. San Diego police arrested Jackson in February 2018.
Noah Jackson
Jackson will be sentenced on August 23. He is facing 16 years to life in prison.
Riley – a 65-year-old African-American street resident – was known as “the Incense Man” for selling incense at OB’s farmer markets and outside other markets.
The OB Rag has been following this story for the last 2 years. We k;now there is a sense of relief throughout the community and for those who have watched this case unfold for the jury’s justice.
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Sad. Incense Man is dead, and some young punk has ruined his own life. Another meth casualty?