A 51-year-old man has been charged with murder in the mid-afternoon stabbing of a family man in a Tustin park last month.
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Robert Carranza Identified as Man Stabbed to Death in Tustin
Robert Jesus Wilson also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of the use of a deadly weapon and prior convictions for assault and battery, according to an Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) statement that indicates he could get up to 85 years to life in state prison with a conviction.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons, who is prosecuting Wilson, told City News Service (CNS) that investigators have not yet determined a motive for Wilson allegedly stabbing 39-year-old Robert Daneil Carranza in the neck on Aug. 18 at Frontier Park.
Wilson had gone to the part at 1400 Mitchell Ave. to meet with the Tustin resident. After Carranza was stabbed, he staggered through the park and collapsed at a strip mall at 14200 Red Hill Ave., according to Tustin Police Sgt. Andrew Birozy, who noted the victim died shortly after his arrival at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana. Birozy described the scene of the stabbing as relatively quiet in terms of crime.
Speaking of crime, the OCDA arraignment statement describes Wilson, who was located and arrested by Tustin Police in Palm Desert, as “a third striker.”
The CNS report cites court records that state Wilson pleaded guilty: in August of last year to felony making criminal threats and misdemeanor battery, contempt of court and resisting arrest, earning 16 months in prison; in March 2000 to assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, drawing three years in prison; and in July 1998 to felony assault with a weapon on a police officer and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reaping 283 days in jail.
Wilson's arraignment Tuesday afternoon was continued to Sept. 18 without the defendant having entered a plea.
A relative of Carranza has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the deceased man's family.
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