Two homeless people have died in Santa Barbara this week, bringing the number of homeless deaths in 2011, a year that’s barely begun, to 3. If the New Year’s Eve death of Bruce “Woody” Woods is included, then 4 homeless people have died in Santa Barbara in a two-week period, a fact that is alarming advocates.
The first death of the week was that of a 52-year-old man believed to be named William Taylor, though Santa Barbara Police and County Sheriff personnel haven’t yet confirmed his identity. He was discovered by a pedestrian on Laguna Street early in the morning on January 11. The second fatality was that of a homeless man by the name of Mike, but the blog has decided not to publish his last name because his death occurred a little more than 24-hours ago. Mike was also in his fifties and staying at Casa Esperanza, though he died at Cottage Hospital on Wednesday night, January 12, according to sources. To read more, see homelessinsb.org.