California public defender died in ‘brutal crime’ during Mexico anniversary trip, family says

The family of a California public defender who died though celebrating his wedding anniversary in Mexico thinks he was the victim of a “brutal criminal offense,” their law firm said Tuesday.

Elliot Blair, 33, died Saturday exterior his lodge area at Las Rocas Vacation resort and Spa in Rosarito Seashore, roughly 32 miles south of San Diego, the lawyer, David Scarsone, said in a assertion.

The incident happened in an open-air walkway on the resort’s 3rd floor, he said. Blair was uncovered in his underwear and socks and a sleeping T-shirt outside a place in which he and his wife and had stayed in the past, the lawyer’s statement mentioned.

Blair’s household has not read about his dying right from area authorities rather, they learned about what occurred from a “liaison” to the community coroner’s workplace, the lawyer’s statement said.

The liaison, who is not recognized in the assertion, instructed the relatives that Blair died of significant head trauma and that his scenario experienced been forwarded to prosecutors for a achievable murder investigation, the statement mentioned.

Rosarito Seashore Mayor Hilda Araceli Brown Figueredo did not react to a ask for for comment. A spokeswoman for Las Rocas Resort claimed the lodge has been functioning carefully with neighborhood authorities and declined to comment more.

In a assertion provided Wednesday to NBC News by the resort’s general public relations business, the legal professional normal of Baja California said an investigation confirmed Blair appeared to have fallen from the third floor shortly right before 1 a.m. He had no very important indications when police and health care staff located him, the statement claims.

The autopsy showed his accidents ended up most likely from a drop and not an act of violence, the statement says. An investigation uncovered no evidence of violence in the home wherever Blair and his spouse ended up keeping, the statement suggests.

The autopsy located indications of liquor, the statement claims. Scarsone has mentioned Blair was not intoxicated and a toxicology report experienced not been accomplished.

Scarsone did not instantly reply to a request Wednesday night time for remark about the assertion.

Mexican authorities experienced been communicating with American officials who, “from the to start with day have been offered all the all info so that, in transform, as a result of them, efforts can be manufactured to notify and help relations of the deceased law firm,” the attorney general’s assertion states.

The U.S. State Division explained it was informed of stories of the dying of a citizen in Rosarito Beach front, Mexico.

“We stand all set to supply all acceptable consular aid,” the department said in a statement Wednesday. “Out of respect to the household through this complicated time, we have no even further remark.”

Blair’s spouse and children programs to have out an independent investigation, employing a private investigator and a forensic pathologist, Scarsone reported.

“Elliot was a outstanding lawyer with a bright foreseeable future,” the statement claimed. “Elliot’s smile was radiant and warmed the hearts of every particular person he arrived in call with. Elliot experienced an innate potential to connect with people from all walks of life.”

Orange County Community Defender Martin Schwarz instructed The Sign up that Blair experienced worked for the community defender’s place of work due to the fact 2017, the 12 months he handed the bar examination. His wife, Kimberly, also worked for the general public defender’s office environment, Schwarz informed the newspaper.

He mentioned Blair was a “devoted partner, wonderful particular person and a amazing lawyer who devoted his lifestyle to serving his clientele and encouraging the county’s most susceptible.”