Man charged with murder in fatal Metro Red Line stabbing

A man accused of fatally stabbing a passenger on the Metro Red Line in East Hollywood last week has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Angelo Correia, 24, was arrested after investigators served a search warrant at his home in North Hollywood several days after the Jan. 13 incident.

The victim, 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.

Homicide Report: A story for every victim

Authorities allege Correia got into a verbal dispute with Velazco-Alvarado, who was seated in the train as it approached the station. Correia then stabbed him “one time before exiting,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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 the suspect was acting aggressively and singing “really loud rap music” before she saw the man stab Velazco-Alvarado in the neck.

The single count of murder Correia was charged includes the special allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon, a folding knife, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors are asking that his bail be set at $1 million at his arraignment, which was slated for Tuesday.

Officials said the homicide was only the second on the subway since the line’s service began in 1993.