Man arrested in fatal Red Line stabbing
This post has been corrected. See note below.
A man has been arrested in connection with last week’s fatal stabbing on the Metro Red Line in East Hollywood, officials said Sunday.
Angelo Correia, 24, was arrested Friday after investigators served a search warrant at his home in North Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Homicide investigators received an anonymous tip that led them to the suspect and his residence, the department said.
Homicide Report: Tracking killings in L.A. County
The victim, identified as 34-year-old Jose Velazco-Alvarado, was stabbed Monday about 9:18 a.m. and taken to a hospital in grave condition when the train stopped at the Vermont/Santa Monica station, said Metro spokesman Marc Littman.
A security camera captured a brief conversation between Velazco-Alvarado and the assailant just moments before the stabbing.
“There was a verbal exchange,” said Det. Keith Schumaker of the Sheriff’s Department’s Transit Bureau.
“The victim was reportedly sitting in a seat on the train as it approached the train station. The suspect approached the victim and stabbed him one time before exiting,” the department said in a statement.
A woman told The Times a few hours after the incident that she witnessed the attack and that it was “quite traumatic.”
The woman, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation, said she was standing by the door when she saw the suspect singing loudly in the car.
He “walks down the aisle to the middle section and was standing there singing really loud rap music,” the woman said. “I particularly noticed because I was watching, thinking, ‘That’s aggressive and loud.’”
She said she then saw the man stab the victim in the neck.
On Tuesday, Metro officials released a statement saying they were “very saddened” to learn that Velazco-Alvarado had succumbed to his injuries.
“This is a very tragic incident that occurred and Metro remains committed to working closely with the LASD to ensure that the individual involved in this incident is caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” the statement said.
Officials said Monday’s homicide was only the second on the subway since the line’s service began in 1993.
[For the record: The sheriff’s department initially reported that Correia was 25. He’s 24.]
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