Seaman Apprentice Albert Lee Soto, 18, was shot and killed after an altercation in San Diego’s East Village on August 31, 2024. Soto, from Queens, New York, had enlisted in October 2023 and was serving as an operations specialist aboard the USS Pinckney, homeported at Naval Base San Diego. The dispute began inside a nightclub near 9th Avenue and F Street around 12:50 a.m.; both groups left the club separately but continued arguing on the street for about 30 minutes before one person produced a firearm and shot Soto.

Officers nearby found Soto on the ground with at least one gunshot wound; he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. San Diego homicide detectives reviewed security footage and license plate reader data and conducted interviews that identified 20-year-old Ta Kari Terell Benness as the suspected shooter. Benness was located and arrested in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on October 16, 2024, and held on suspicion of murder pending extradition. Investigators say others present have also been identified and the investigation is active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers.