San Jose: Three suspects arrested in fatal downtown stabbing

Officers found the victim on the 100 block of North 6th Street early Monday morning

SAN JOSE – Three suspects have been arrested in connection with a recent fatal stabbing in downtown San Jose, police announced Friday.

In a news release, San Jose police identified the suspects as 40-year-old Manuel Avila, 25-year-old Gregory Messenger and 45-year-old Cynthia Alvarez, all of San Jose.

The stabbing was reported in the 100 block of North 6th Street about 5:10 a.m. on Monday. Officers arrived to find 39-year-old San Jose resident David Perez suffering from at least one stab wound. He was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later.

Perez’s death marked the city’s 29th homicide of the year.

Police said an “extensive follow-up investigation” by homicide detectives led to the identification of the suspects. The detectives obtained warrants for the suspects and the police department’s Covert Response Unit arrested all three in Milpitas on Tuesday.

The suspects were booked into Santa Clara County jail on murder charges. They are being held without bail; Avila and Messenger at the Main Jail in San Jose and Alvarez at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, according to online jail records.

Police are boosting patrols this weekend in response to the stabbing, as well as an unrelated drive-by shooting near 8th and Reed streets on Sept. 15 that killed two men and injured four other people.

Anyone with information about the stabbing can contact detectives at 408-277-5283, or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.