Slaying Suspect Apparently Hangs Himself in Glendale Jail

GLENDALE — A 19-year-old murder suspect died in a Glendale City Jail cell in what police believe was a suicide by hanging, officials said Thursday.

David Giovanni Calix of Glendale was pronounced dead at 5:31 p.m. Wednesday, about 10 hours after he was arrested on suspicion of murder, said Glendale Police Sgt. Lief Nicolaisen.

A community services officer on routine patrol of the jail discovered Calix, who was alone in his cell, hanging from a noose fashioned from his clothing, Nicolaisen said. Six minutes later, he was pronounced dead. Nicolaisen declined to elaborate on what item of clothing was used.

“No foul play is suspected. However, a routine investigation is being undertaken,” Nicolaisen said.

Calix, a local gang member, was believed to have been the person who last month fatally shot Ismael Borrego, 17, of Los Angeles and wounded Borrego’s friend, 18-year-old Ernesto Morales, also of Los Angeles, Nicolaisen said.

“It was a gang-related shooting between two local area gangs,” he said. Other suspects might still be at large, he said.

The two victims were found Oct. 12 in a car outside a 7-Eleven store at Pacific Avenue and Colorado Street. Investigators believe the shooting occurred at Brunswick Avenue and Chevy Chase Drive near Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Morales, who survived, drove the vehicle to the convenience store in Glendale.

Nearly a month later, police obtained witness statements and other unspecified evidence and served a search warrant Wednesday morning at the home of Calix’s girlfriend in the 1600 block of South Adams Street.

Calix was taken into custody at the home and booked into the Glendale City Jail at 7:40 a.m. Wednesday.

During a regular police screening of inmates, “he expressed no suicidal thoughts or desires,” Nicolaisen said.