Wounded man identified as murder suspect in woman’s stabbing
SAN JOSE >> A man who was hospitalized in a reported double stabbing that left a woman dead Friday is now being treated as a murder suspect who killed his ex-girlfriend at a home on Story Road, authorities said.
Luis Eduardo JaraReyna, 32, of San Jose, is in stable condition after being treated for at least one stab wound from the Friday morning encounter. But he has been formally booked on suspicion of murder and will be transferred to the custody of the Santa Clara County Jail once he is released from the hospital.
The victim, a 32-year-old San Jose woman who lived at the Story Road home near Capitol Expressway where the stabbings occurred, has not been publicly named pending her formal identification by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.
A relative of the victim on Saturday affirmed the police account that the stabbing was a domestic-violence case, describing Jara-Reyna as a former boyfriend. Family members said they believed that the suspect forced his way into the home about 8:40 a.m. Friday and attacked the woman.
San Jose police officers went to the home for a disturbance call and found Jara-Reyna and the woman suffering from at least one stab wound each, Sgt. Enrique Garcia said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and the suspect was taken to the hospital.
It was not immediately clear if Jara-Reyna was stabbed by the victim or if he stabbed himself. Family members contend that the victim fought back.
Garcia said an investigation found that the injured man “was in fact the suspect” and that the two had a “prior dating relationship.” But he declined to elaborate further.
Relatives were still in shock as they gathered at the Story Road home Saturday afternoon. There were few traces outside that would indicate that a killing occurred there.
The killing marked the city’s 26th homicide of the year; 37 homicides had been recorded at the same point in 2016.
The precise motive and circumstances of the killing remain under investigation, Garcia said. He urged victims of domestic violence, or abusive relationships in general, to seek city and county resources for counseling and protection such as Community Solutions, Next Door Solutions and the YWCA Silicon Valley.
Anyone with information about the Friday homicide can contact SJPD homicide detective Sgt. Jesus Mendoza or detective Brian McDonald at 408-277-5283, or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408947-STOP or svcrimestoppers.org.