Overview
- San Diego police were called to an apartment on the 4300 block of 54th Street around 4 a.m. Saturday after a report of an unresponsive woman.
- Officers found 35-year-old Nancy Del Alto with severe facial injuries and noted blood in several areas of the apartment before she was pronounced dead at a hospital.
- Detectives questioned Del Alto’s live-in boyfriend, 38-year-old Jose Manuel Castaneda, and arrested him on suspicion of causing her fatal injuries.
- Castaneda pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a single count of murder and remains in custody without bail.
- Family members described a nearly six-year relationship that had grown controlling, launched a GoFundMe for funeral costs, and voiced a public call for justice.