Man arrested on suspicion of murder
35-year-old accused of stabbing friend in Canyon Country
Homicide detectives began investigating the stabbing death of a 29-year-old man in Canyon Country on Monday morning, identified by coroner’s officials as Brent Hariston.
The two men — Hariston and the man accused of killing him — met in rehab and had agreed to meet Monday morning on the 27500 block of Dewdrop Avenue, with the intent to do some work together, sheriff’s officials said.
Arrested in connection with the stabbing was David Alonso Figueroa, 35.
The two men began to argue, which escalated to the point where one man stabbed the other, said Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau.
“He (the suspect) went to his friend’s house and they were going to work, house painting or something like that,” Corina told reporters at the scene.
“Somehow, for whatever reason, the suspect brings out a knife and stabs the victim multiple times,” he said.
At that point, the victim’s mother — described by Corina as a “good witness” — came out of the house, saw the attack and then called 911 immediately.
The suspect ran off as deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station arrived.
Deputies set up a containment area in the neighborhood and, a short time later, apprehended a man they believe is the suspect.
The stabbing victim was rushed to the hospital but died later in the hospital, Corina said, describing the stabbing wounds as in the upper body.
Corina noted that the suspect’s shirt was bloody when he was apprehended.
Responding to the 911 call, first responders were dispatched shortly before 5:45 a.m. for reports of a stabbing.
Paramedics treated one man at the scene and took him to the hospital, said Marvin Lim, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“This was for a stabbing, a knife wound to the head and chest,” he said, noting paramedics cleared from the scene at 6:51 a.m.
Paramedics were called back to the same location, however, at 7:30 a.m., for reports of a man having suffered lacerations to his face, Lim said.
Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station made sure it was safe for paramedics to approach the home when they arrived back at the home at 7:37 a.m.
Paramedics treated the second man, believed to be the stabbing suspect, but did not take him to the hospital.
The investigation is ongoing.