UPDATE NO. 3, NOV. 18, 1:53 P.M.: Ruben Martinez, who is accused of fatally stabbing his mother's boyfriend Maximino Fuentes Clara during a street fight in unincoporated Anaheim Sunday night, has a criminal past, according to court records. The 27-year-old Anaheim resident has a 2009 conviction for carjacking and a 2008 conviction for stealing a car in Riverside County, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Keith Burke.
Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned some time today on a murder count with a sentence-enhancing allegation of use of a dangerous or deadly weapon.
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Burke told City News Service that a conviction could send Martinez to state prison for the same number of years Clara lived: 52.
UPDATE NO. 2, NOV. 17, 8:26 P.M.: The man who was fatally stabbed on a street in unincorporated Anaheim Sunday night has been identified as Maximino Fuentes Clara, 52, of Garden Grove. He was in a dating relationship with the mother of his accused killer, Ruben Martinez, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock, the sheriff's spokesman. Investigators do not know what sparked the fight that led to Clara's demise, Hallock said.
UPDATE NO. 1, NOV. 17, 9:45 A.M.: Turns out the Orange County Sheriff's Department detained a man at the scene of last night's stabbing in unincorporated Anaheim and later arrested him on suspicion of murder. Ruben Martinez, 27, of Anaheim, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is expected to be arraigned in court Tuesday, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock, the sheriff's spokesman. “Based on the preliminary investigation and information obtained at the scene, it appears the stabbing occurred during an altercation in the street between Martinez and the male victim,” Hallock says. It remains unclear why the pair was fighting and whether they knew each other before the dispute, Hallock added, noting the investigation is ongoing and release of the victim's identity is still pending notification of next of kin. Anyone with information that can help investigators is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department at 714.647.7044 or 714.647.7000. Anonymous tips can be left with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.847.6227 (855-TIP-OCCS) or via occrimestoppers.org.
ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 17, 8:59 A.M.: A 52-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the chest and abdomen in unincorporated Anaheim Sunday night, but investigators do not believe the murder was gang related.
The stabbing was reported just before 8:15 p.m. on the street at Cerritos Avenue and Perdido Street, where Orange County sheriff's deputies performed CPR, says sheriff's Lt. John Roche.
The victim was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead, adds Roche, who notes release of the man's name is pending notification of next of kin.
There is no known suspect or motive in the stabbing, Roche said.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.