Two Men Charged With Brutal Stabbing Near Arcadia

ARCADIA, CA — Two men have been charged with murder in connection with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old man in El Monte last month.

Alejandro Rojas, 22, of El Monte died at a hospital after being attacked about 11:40 a.m. on Feb. 19 in the 4200 block of Peck Road, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The suspects, 22-year-old Daniel Lopez and 25-year-old Adrian Castillo, were arrested last Thursday at a home in the 11400 block of Kerrwood Street, where an El Monte police SWAT team served a search warrant, according to Deputy Lisa Jansen of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.

Both men were charged Monday with a single count of murder, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Castillo also faces an allegation of using a knife during the killing, Ardalani said.

Rojas and a friend were walking along Peck Road when a Nissan Sentra allegedly driven by Lopez pulled up alongside them, Jansen said.

Lopez stopped the car and Castillo got out and stabbed Rojas, Jansen alleged. Rojas ran, along with his friend, to a nearby home and collapsed, while the suspects drove away and out of sight.

The sheriff's department assisted El Monte police in the homicide investigation.

The suspects are due to be arraigned on April 5 in Department N at the Pomona Courthouse, Ardalani said.

They are being held at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, Castillo without bail and Lopez in lieu of $2 million, according to sheriff's inmate records.

City News Service

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