MURDER SUSPECT SHOT, KILLED IN ALPINE

March 1, 2011 (Alpine) – Marquin Anthony Hendrix, 61, a suspect wanted for the stabbing death of his wife yesterday, has been shot and killed in Alpine after advancing on Sheriff’s deputies with a shovel. The Sheriff’s office has not released the name of the suspect or the officers involved in the shooting last night. However San Diego Police have identified him as Hendrix, ECM news partner 10 News reports. ECM received independent confirmation of the victim’s identity from an Alpine resident close to the scene.
 

“We had a call around 6 p.m. of a suspicious vehicle at Hawks Vista and Tavern Road in Alpine,” Lt. Jim Duffy told ECM, adding that an ASTREA helicopter was called to assist in the search. “Deputies responded to check it out and shortly thereafter shots were fired.”
 

According to Lt. Brugos with the Sheriff’s homicide detail, a Sheriff’s sergeant and deputy were called by a citizen who reported a flashing light on a rural hillside north of Dehesa Road, near the 9-mile marker. The caller suspected the light could be from a hiker in distress.
 

Deputies climbed the hill and found that the light was from a vehicle that had driven off-road. They recognized it as a vehicle reportedly driven by the murder suspect, who had been described as armed and dangerous. 
 

A police manhunt was on yesterday for Marquin Hendrix, 61, who told his brother that he shot and killed his wife. The body of Caridad Hendrix, 51, was found later in the bedroom of the couple’s home on Monette Drive in Serra Mesa. Marquin Hendrix, who was reportedly suicidal, was last seen driving a 2004 maroon Chrysler Crossfire with the license 5MFB596.
 

After consulting with investigators from San Diego Police Department, deputies began searching the area. “As they checked an enclosed carport, the suspect, who was inside, armed himself with a shovel and advanced in a rapid manner, toward the deputies,” Lt. Brugos reported in a statement issued this morning. “After ignoring repeated command to drop the uplifted shovel, deputies fired their service weapons on the still advancing suspect.”
 

Hendrix, who was struck multiple times, was pronounced dead at the scene by Fire Department personnel following rendering of first aid. Paramedics were also called.
 

After Fire Department personnel confirmed the suspect was deceased, Sheriff’s Homicide detail took over the investigation.
 

“I was outside lighting my barbecue here in Alpine and I heard a helicopter overhead and noticed that it was shining a light down,” said Angela Brookshire, director of the Alpine Community Network. Brookshire said that she and her mother-in-law heard several pops. “It sounded like gunfire…so we ran in the house and locked the door. About 20 minutes later, my cousin called me and said that a man was shot in her best friend’s shed.”  The cousin indicated that the suspect had been wanted for stabbing his wife, Brookshire confirmed.
 

Marquie Hendrix was the owner of Benchmarq, a computer equipment wholesaler, at the same address in Serra Mesa as his home.