Man arrested after deadly stabbing in El Mirage

EL MIRAGE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- A man has been arrested after police say he stabbed another man to death in El Mirage Monday afternoon.

El Mirage officers initially responded to the report of a dog bite near Alto Street and El Mirage Road around 2:30 p.m. Officers didn’t find evidence of a dog bite, but when they arrived, they reportedly found a 52-year-old man with several stab wounds. El Mirage firefighters took him to a hospital in critical condition, where he later died. The man hasn’t been identified. The Neighborhood Enforcement Team and El Mirage detectives soon learned that Abel Aguirre, 38, had stabbed the man.

Court papers say a witness told investigators that she’d heard Aguirre rummaging through a drawer in their house near Alto Street where they kept kitchen knives. She said she heard him leave the house by the back door and found him standing by a man holding a bloody knife in his hand, according to court documents. When she asked Aguirre what he had done, the witness told police Aguirre told her to get out of there, court papers say. According to police, the witness said she then saw Aguirre get into a tan-colored car and leave the area. She said she saw the 52-year-old man collapsed in the alley where officers found him.

Investigators later learned that Aguirre had waved down a family member to catch a ride to a house in El Mirage. The family member later told officers where the house and car were. According to court documents, officers checked the vehicle and found red and dark-colored stains on the passenger’s side. Aguirre was soon found after a search in the area and was arrested just before 7 p.m. Officers later found a sweatshirt on a couch in the back of the house Aguirre had been dropped off at, similar to the one the witness told police Aguirre had been wearing at the scene, court papers say.

Court documents say Aguirre told officers he was talking to the man and went for a walk with him that afternoon. He said he didn’t stab the man and “would never hurt [the victim] because he is family,” court papers say. Aguirre told officers that he didn’t know what happened to the man. Aguirre faces various charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and intent to assault. He is being held on a $1 million dollar bond.

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