SANTA MARIA – Santa Maria Police have identified the man stabbed to death early Wednesday morning as 46 year old Marcellus Winn of Santa Maria. Victim
Santa Maria Police tell Central Coast News an arrest has been made in connection with a deadly stabbing Wednesday morning along the 1000 block of North Broadway.
Police say they arrested 34 year old Jim Alonzo Wednesday night as a suspect in the homicide.
Police say Alonzo was trying to flee the area when he was arrested.
Surveillance cameras mounted on the outside of the 7-11 convenience store on the corner of Broadway and Bunny Avenue captured the beginning of Wednesday morning's deadly encounter.
Central Coast News was allowed to watch the surveillance video on condition we not record it in anyway.
It's a very short but chilling video clip that shows the last minute of one man's life.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing a baseball cap waiting outside the 7-11 just before 2:40 am Wednesday morning.
Suddenly another man with a shaved head appears on camera and approaches the man who was waiting.
The two men have a brief conversation before there's a physical confrontation in front of the store.
The scuffle continues into the parking lot and out of the range of the security cameras.
When Santa Maria Police arrive on scene minutes later they find one of the two men lying dead in the street.
Police say he was stabbed to death with a sharp instrument.
Detectives and investigators spent the rest of the morning searching the surrounding area and collecting evidence.
"There's a connection to the Budget Inn", said SMPD Sgt. Marc Schneider about a motel across the street from the 7-11, "I don't know what that connection is, detectives are getting ready to conduct searches."
Police say the 7-11 surveillance camera video was "very valuable" in helping detectives track down Alonzo.
Alonzo is expected to be booked into county jail Thursday morning.
The name of the man killed has not yet been released as police try to notify his family.
Police have not revealed a possible motive for the stabbing or what brought the two men together in front of the 7-11 at that hour of the morning.
