Mesa student Luis Felipe Santos, who died after being stabbed multiple times, is the third mesa student to die on or near SDSU campus in less than 2 years.
According to an incident report filed by the San Diego Police Department, 22-year-old Santos, along with Mesa students Keith Robertson, Brandon Scheerer and two SDSU students, was walking home from a party at a frat house near SDSU at approximately 2:15 a.m. on Oct. 4.
Santos and Scheerer stopped near the bus benches at 55th Street and Montezuma Road, to talk with a group of women while the other three continued walking. A group of four other men approached Santos and Scheerer and a verbal altercation ensued.
Santos and Scheerer called their other three friends back to help them and a fight broke out among all nine men. The other four men were armed with knives. Santos, Robertson and Scheerer all received stab wounds. Santos’s wounds were fatal, causing him to die at the scene. Both Robertson and Scheerer were hospitalized, but their wounds were not considered life threatening.
The tragic death of Santos is the third that has occurred near SDSU campus. In November 2006, 19-year-old Whitney Young was killed by a drunk driver in a hit and run in the SDSU parking lot, and in February of this year, 22-year-old Kurt Baker died of an overdose from alcohol and other drugs at the SDSU Sigma Pi house.
This series of incidents has sparked a new urgency for college officials to be proactive about preventing things like this from happening in the future.
“I’m very concerned that in the three years I’ve been here that this is the third incident that has happened at SDSU,” said Mesa President Rita Cepeda. ” We must do something to address this issue.”
Communication between SDSU and Mesa has begun, and the launch of an educational campaign regarding student behavior on and around campus is currently in the works. One of the goals of the campaign is to provide education for students regarding the use of alcohol.
Currently involved in the campaign is Ashanti Hands and Dr. Barbara Kavalier from Mesa, along with Rosa Elena Moreno, the SDSU Director of Student Activities and Campus Life, and Brande Faris, the leader of several fraternities at SDSU.
A memorial service was held in Santos’ honor at the site of the incident on Oct. 6, and a table was set up by health services in front of Mesa’s LRC that gave students and staff the opportunity to sign a memorial book or write a personal message to the Santos family.
Mesas Health Services Department also has psychological counseling available to those who need it. You can reach health services by calling 619-388-2774.