The San Diego Police Department has identified the victim of a fatal stabbing that happened early Wednesday morning near a San Ysidro gas station.
According to police, the person who died was Manuel Omar Rico Arellano, a 42-year-old man from Mexico.
SDPD says it arrested the stabbing suspect about 12 hours after the crime.
According to police, officers responded to a gas station in the 300 block of East San Ysidro Boulevard around 2:23 a.m. on March 8 after receiving a call about a man suffering from a stab wound to his upper body.
First responders found the man and started life-saving measures before he was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
SDPD homicide detectives were called to the scene, and they learned the victim had been stabbed in a nearby vacant building, located in the 100 block of Center Street. Concerned citizens called the police after the man stumbled from the building to the gas station parking lot.
The preliminary investigation also showed the victim was with a group of people in the vacant building, and one of the men stabbed him without being provoked. Detectives managed to identify the suspect as Hector Alcantara, a 32-year-old San Diego man, according to SDPD's press release.
Police believed Alcantara fled for Mexico after the stabbing, and their suspicion was later verified.
According to the release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents alerted SDPD detectives that they stopped and detained Alcantara at the San Ysidro Point of Entry pedestrian gate. Officers came to 720 E. San Ysidro Blvd. and proceeded to arrest him on one count of murder.
If you have any more information for law enforcement about this stabbing, reach out to SDPD's Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or call San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
