Youth Faces Arraignment in Fatal Stabbing of Father

A 16-year-old Valley Glen youth, accused of stabbing his father to death in front of his sister and nephew early New Year’s Eve morning, is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Police, responding to a call, found Rafael Guijarro, 48, on his living room floor with multiple stab wounds about 3 a.m. Sunday. He was taken to an area hospital, where he died two hours later.

Neighbors said they heard screams from the apartment, where Guijarro lived with his son and a 1-year-old grandson. A 19-year-old daughter was visiting her father at the time of the attack, police said.

The son, whose name was not released because he is a minor, is being held at Juvenile Hall in Sylmar.

According to a police statement released Tuesday, the father and son “had engaged in an argument, which led to a physical assault. The victim was stabbed in the upper torso by his son.”

Guijarro, an air-conditioning repairman, had lived in the Valle Haven Apartments near Valley College since he and his wife divorced six years ago, neighbors said.

“When I went to the apartment and saw him on the floor, I thought he had been drinking--until I saw the blood,” said Cathy Safavi, Guijarro’s neighbor of three years.

Safavi said she and her fiance often had dinner and drinks with the man neighbors called Raf, whom she described as kind-hearted.

On New Year’s night, they gathered with others at Guijarro’s door to pray and toast their friendship with him, she said.

The apartment manager, speaking through the office door, said, “He was quiet, and he paid his rent on time. So to me, he was a perfect resident. That’s all I know.”