Stockton serial killer: Oakland victim's daughter believes her father tried to defend himself

"Finding out that a serial killer had killed my dad, the memories came back and emotionally I'm still not over it yet."

ByJ.R. Stone KGO logo

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Oakland victim tried to defend himself from serial killer, family says

Miguel Vazquez, an Oakland homicide victim linked to the Stockton serial killer, may have defended himself before his death according to his family.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The family of an Oakland man whose death has now been linked to a Stockton serial killer on the loose is still grieving his death more than a year later.

The deadly shooting happened last April near Harmon and Seminary avenues in Oakland before dawn.

Now, the daughter of Miguel Vazquez is revealing new details about her father's death saying she believes he tried to fight back before being killed.

"What it seemed like was, my dad tried defending himself from the serial killer," said Ines Vazquez

Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden says there is a 'consistent' pattern in the series of killings, as the suspect is on "a mission to kill."

She's talking about the night her dad was killed in Oakland last year. A murder that is now being linked to five additional murders in Stockton and being investigated as the work of a possible serial killer. He is one of the five murder victims who are Hispanic.

"Finding out that a serial killer had killed my dad, the memories came back and emotionally I'm still not over it yet," said Vazquez.

Ines says her dad didn't have a permanent home when he was killed but would clean cars and do other odd jobs to make money. She says he was likely staying in his car at the time of the attack.

"We know he tried defending himself because the day of his funeral, we saw on his knuckles it looked like he had defended himself, it looked like he was bruised up from his knuckles," said Vazquez.

Oakland police haven't given specifics on what happened to Miguel Vazquez or if he did in fact try to defend himself, but Ines says, detectives told her he was shot multiple times.

Sadly, the last time Ines saw her father was at her middle school graduation. She'll soon graduate high school with just a memory of the joy he once brought her.

"He hugged me really tight and he said he loved me," said Vazquez.

WATCH: Experts weigh in on Stockton serial killer, their next possible move

The victim of an April 2021 shooting in Oakland, linked by Stockton, California police to an apparent serial killer, has been identified.

She says she's confused and upset over what has happened to not only her father but other victims out there too.

"Why is he choosing to do this? Why is he killing people? Going out there and not knowing that the people he is doing that to is leaving behind families, sons, daughters, husbands, a wife, it's just not fair," said Vazquez.

Oakland police tell ABC7 News that as of late last week there were no new updates in Vazquez's case.

Ines says she's upset that she found out about the serial killer link in her father's case through social media and not the police department.