NAMPA, Idaho — A man who died after being repeatedly stabbed in front of a home in Nampa early Sunday morning has been identified as the brother-in-law of the suspect.
The Canyon County Coroner's Office identified the victim Tuesday as 28-year-old Jossue Antonio Garcia of Nampa.
According to court documents filed in the case, Garcia was stabbed after a conflict involving his brother-in-law, 21-year-old Juanito Junior Rodriguez.
The victim's family described him as a "great father, and best friend to his wife." He cared for five children under the age of 12 - three of their own, and his wife's two young brothers.
Rodriguez told police that he and his girlfriend, along with two other people, had gone over to the Randolph Drive home of Garcia and his wife - Rodriguez' sister - to hang out Saturday night.
According to the suspect's girlfriend, at some point a fight broke out involving both Garcia and Rodriguez. At that point, according to the girlfriend, she and Rodriguez left and headed home to their own house in the 1500 block of Ruby Court.
Police wrote in a probable cause affidavit that after the group left, Garcia's wife realized that her phone was missing, and when Garcia called it, Rodriguez picked up. Garcia told Rodriguez that he was coming over to the Ruby Court home to retrieve the cell phone.
When they arrived at the suspect's house, according to witnesses, Garcia threatened the father of Rodriguez' girlfriend, then cut the man with a knife. At that point, Rodriguez and two teenagers at the house began fighting with Garcia.
The father of Rodriguez' girlfriend told police that as he was examining his cut hand, Rodriguez walked up to him and slid a knife into his coat pocket, telling him to "tell them it was self-defense."
Nampa man killed in stabbing
Another woman who had ridden to the suspect's house with Garcia and his wife told investigators that she realized Garcia had been stabbed during the fight, and tried to perform first aid. According to court documents, she saw two stab wounds on the front side of Garcia's body, and multiple additional stab wounds to his back.
The woman said she placed Garcia in the backseat of the SUV to take him to the hospital, but he fell back out of the vehicle. She reported that when she asked for help getting the injured man back into the vehicle, Rodriguez refused and "said something similar to 'that's what he gets' or 'Jossue got what he deserved,'" according to the probable cause affidavit.
By the time Nampa Police arrived at the scene at about 12:47 a.m., Garcia was dead. A black folding knife and brass knuckles were found outside the home, while the knife Rodriguez had allegedly placed into his girlfriend's father's pocket was recovered from inside the house. That knife, which police confirmed had been given to the suspect as a Christmas present days earlier, had blood on the blade, according to investigators.
Rodriguez was arrested at the scene and booked into the Canyon County Jail on a felony charge of aggravated battery.
Although Nampa Police described the stabbing as a homicide, the coroner's office has not yet released an official cause and manner of death for the victim. The Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Rodriguez is currently held on a $1 million bond, and is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 7.
Garcia's family is planning to hold a vigil in his honor at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Liberty Park in Nampa. A fundraiser to raise money for funeral expenses has been set up on Facebook here.
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