The body was noticed by a person who was driving to work around 4:25 a.m. at Murtha Drive and Capitol Avenue.
San Jose police homicide investigators are at the scene and police are canvassing the neighborhood.
"Right now we are doing a complete canvas of the neighborhood. So we are banging on doors and talking to neighbors. What we have determined is that about 2 a.m. a couple of neighbors heard a disturbance in the area -- we believe it is related to this homicide," said San Jose Police Lt. Mike Sullivan.
The homicide marks the ninth in San Jose this year.