"Compassion Guy" David Breaux identified as Davis Central Park homicide victim
DAVIS -- A homicide investigation is underway after a body was found in the heart of Davis at Central Park late Thursday morning.
Officers received a report of a person who appeared unresponsive in the park around 11:20 a.m., Davis police said. Responding officers and medics soon confirmed that a deceased man was at the park.
Davis police said that the circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated as a homicide and that the victim had multiple stab wounds.
On Friday, the Yolo County Coroner identified the victim as 50-year-old David Henry Breaux. He had been a resident of Davis since 2009, police say, and was well known around the city as the "Compassion Guy."
"Many of us knew David. We talked with him. We shared in his vision for a kinder world. We connected on what it means to be human and humane," said Mayor Will Arnold in a statement on Friday.
Breaux was known to stand on a corner in Downtown Davis and greet people, asking them to share their view on compassion.
His became such a mainstay that the city had a bench installed in Breaux's corner in 2013, fittingly known as the Compassion Bench.
No suspect information has been released at this point.
"Our investigators are looking for anyone who might have seen or heard anything about what could have occurred in the park," said Lt. Dan Beckwith with the Davis Police Department.
Students and neighbors around the busy park were shocked by the situation.
"I'm just shocked," said Bryan Baniaga, a UC Davis student. "This happened kind of in the heart of Davis."
Central Park is just a few blocks from the UC Davis campus.
Davis police are asking the public for any surveillance footage that may help them with their investigation.
Additional officers will be deployed on bike and foot patrol in the downtown corridor and Central Park to "ensure a visible public safety presence," they say.
Anyone who has information about this incident or surveillance camera footage pointed toward the park is asked to contact the Davis Police Department at 530-747-5400 or email policeweb@cityofdavis.org. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can call the police tip line at 530-747-5460.