San Ysidro

San Diego police are investigating the slaying Monday night of an unidentified youth in San Ysidro.

The body of a male Latino was found along the southern levee of a flood-control channel along the Tijuana River, said Bill Robinson, a spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.

He said U. S. Border Patrol officers heard a gunshot about 11:15 p.m. and found the young man at the levee.

Homicide division Sgt. Frank Martinez said police believe the youth was about 15 or 16 years old. He had no identification on him.

“We believe he is from the other side,” Martinez said, adding, “We have nothing on him. We have nowhere to go unless somebody comes forward and identifies him.”

Police will take fingerprints in an attempt to identify the victim, Martinez said. The youth was wearing tennis shoes, blue jeans, a dark jacket and a light-colored shirt, he said. Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie said the boy was 5-foot-5 and weighed 108 pounds.

Martinez said the youth was shot once in the head and was found about 150 feet north of the border.

Robinson said the area is the site of “almost weekly reports of assaults and robberies . . . committed against people who have just crossed the border illegally.”