Police Arrest Man Involved in Phoenix Stabbing
Phoenix police arrested the husband of a woman who was found stabbed to death in her west Phoenix home and were preparing to submit murder charges against the man, Phoenix police said late Monday morning.
Police said Jaime Silerio-Orozco, 45, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in death of 42-year-old Maria Del Refugio Soto.
Police said Silerio-Orozco initially told officers that he had seen someone running from his house near 75th Avenue and Crittenden Lane, but he later admitted to investigators that he had stabbed Soto, said Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Police were originally called to the home about 9:30 p.m. Sunday where they found Soto dead, Lewis said.
Neighbors said the woman’s husband and son were home at the time of the stabbing; a daughter moved out several weeks ago.
“If it’s what I think it is — and I hope it’s not what I think it is — then this is very sad news,” said neighbor Yvonne Diaz, 46.
Diaz said that the family is “very sweet” and the woman is going to be missed, adding that, “she was very generous to everyone in the neighborhood.”
Bus Stabbing in Phoenix
Phoenix police identified the suspect Sunday in a weekend stabbing at a bus stop that left the victim in critical condition.
The suspect, Louis York, 41, walked up to officers Saturday morning as they were setting up a perimeter in the area of 37th Avenue and Medlock.
Police said York made some comments that led them to believe he was the suspect, said Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson.
York was taken into custody without incident.
Thompson said the stabbing occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. at the northbound bus stop north of Camelback Road on 35th Avenue.
Witnesses said York stabbed 30-year-old Matthew Jones for no known reason.
Jones was rushed to the hospital with a stab wound to the abdomen. He is not expected to survive, a court document stated.
Suspect Flees the Scene
The suspect fled the scene, but later approached officers.
There is no known motive other than the suspect indicated he may have mental problems, Thompson said.
Investigators from the Violent Crimes Bureau processed the scene and interviewed the witnesses and suspect.
York told officers he was recently released from a mental health hospital and, prior to his release, informed staff that he would kill someone once he was freed, according to court paperwork.
The suspect told detectives he obtained the knife that morning from a friend’s house and kept it in his waistband for protection because people were following him.
York got on a bus at 15th Avenue and Camelback Road and saw the victim, whom he believed he had seen at a drug house two days before, the court document stated.
Stabbing Suspect
York and Jones got off the bus at 35th Avenue and Camelback Road and waited at the bus stop for a northbound bus.
While waiting, York said the victim looked at him and started to manipulate his waist while two other people appeared suspicious, police said.
York said he removed the knife from his waistband and stabbed the victim once, the court document said. York said the knife got stuck and he cut his hand on the blade.
According to court paperwork, York said he had been smoking and injecting crystal methamphetamine recently and was not taking his medication for paranoia.
Suspect in Phoenix Stabbing
Phoenix police have one suspect in custody and are looking for another after a fatal stabbing near Seventh Avenue and Camelback Road early Monday morning.
Von Richard Mraz, 55, was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on one count of second-degree murder.
According to the police report, Mraz was sleeping near a building when a 25- to 35-year-old man tried to steal some of his personal property. Mraz told police that he was awakened by the victim going through his pockets and removing a sheathed knife from his pants belt. He said the man fled but left his cellphone at the scene and later returned.
Stabbing Victim
Mraz alerted others sleeping in the area and a fellow transient confronted the man, according to police. The three men ended up in a fight and the alleged robber was stabbed several times.
The injured man was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police searched the area and took Mraz into custody.
They are still looking for a suspect described as a white male, 60 to 65 years old, about 5 feet 5 inches tall with long blond hair. He is known to frequent some of the businesses in the area.
The business parking lots in the area were closed off for the investigation.
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