Photo: Juan Tavares
Ventura County – In what must have been a scene reminiscent of a cable TV horror movie, uniformed Oxnard Police Department patrol officers, rushing to the scene of a reported stabbing in the pre-dawn hours of February 9th, discovered victims in two adjacent apartment units on West Vineyard Avenue.
According to Oxnard PD spokesman Det. Mike Velasquez, the 46-year-old male victim was “suffering from numerous stab wounds to his upper body.” In a separate apartment next door, the cops found a 50-year-old female victim “suffering from several lacerations to her upper body.” Also contacted inside one of the apartments was 21-year-old Oxnard resident Juan Tavares, the son of both victims.
The immediately ensuing investigation indicated that Tavares awakened in the middle of the night, and at approximately 5:00 a.m. “stabbed both victims as they slept.” Detectives from the OPD Violent Crimes Unit determined that Tavares’ mother fought her son off and fled to a neighboring apartment seeking help. At that point, “another family member detained Tavares” until law enforcement could be summoned.
Both victims were transported to Ventura County Medical Center. Tavares was arrested and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in custody on a no-bail hold while the OPD’s Violent Crimes Unit investigates Tavares’ suspected affiliation with a criminal street gang.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
