INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Anthony Mele is seen with his daughter (face blurred) in a picture shared by his mother.
Anthony Mele had just finished his dinner at a seaside California
restaurant when a stranger walked toward the table he was sharing with his family.As Mele's 5-year-old daughter sat on her father's lap, the
stranger, for reasons still unknown, stabbed Mele's neck, the Ventura Police Department said
The girl was not injured, but Mele died the following day
Several 911 calls about the stabbing just before 9:30 p.m
Wednesday sent police officers to Aloha Steakhouse in Ventura, California, northwest of Los Angeles
A group of people had chased the suspect, a homeless man, out of the restaurant and toward the beach by the time officers arrived, police
said.Jamal Jackson, 49, was arrested and charged with murder
Mele, 35, was removed from life support at about 6:30 p.m
Thursday."My son Anthony did not make it
just unbelievable," Mele's mother, Becky Grieco Mele, wrote on Facebook
The Washington Post was unable to reach her Saturday.Police said the two men did not know each other, and the motive behind what appeared to
be an unprovoked attack is still under investigation.Jackson had been in the area near the restaurant hours before the stabbing
Police said a bystander had called 911 call about a man, later identified as Jackson, yelling and being disruptive
But patrol officers were unavailable to respond at that time, so staff at the police department's command center watched Jackson's movements
through the pier's security camera
Several minutes later, the command center staff determined that Jackson was not disturbing or threatening anyone, police said.Jamal Jackson
had been in the area near the restaurant hours before the stabbing.A 30-minute surveillance video shows Jackson sitting on a guardrail
Halfway through the video, he waved at two people, a man and a woman, and asked them for cigarettes
The man gave Jackson a cigarette and handed him a lighter, and the three appeared to speak briefly while Jackson smoked
At one point, the two asked Jackson to take a picture of them
They left after about two minutes.Police said investigators want to speak with the people who had interacted with Jackson
Investigators did not say what type of weapon was used to stab Mele, or where and how Jackson may have obtained it.Aloha Steakhouse is
located right across Ventura Promenade, an oceanfront trail that runs parallel to the beach
Police said they have increased patrols along the promenade
Onlookers stood outside the restaurant, where a memorial of candles, flowers and pictures had been created.A GoFundMe page to help Mele's
family has raised nearly $60,000 as of Saturday afternoon
A picture on the page shows Mele with his wife and daughter, smiling and raising her arms as her father carried her.Mele's death is
Ventura's first homicide this year, police Cmdr
Tom Higgins told the Ventura County Star."We are extremely disheartened and infuriated by this criminal attack," Mayor Neal Andrews said in
a statement, according to the newspaper
"We will not tolerate this in our community
Nothing is more important than the safety of our visitors, residents and businesses."Jackson is being held on a $1.05 million bond and is
scheduled for a court hearing next week
It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney
