SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (KABC) — A father of three is dead after being stabbed to death in San Juan Capistrano. No arrests have been made.
“They just keep asking for their dad. When is daddy coming back? And I just have to keep telling them that he’s not coming back,” said Mia Martinez, the victim’s fianceé.
Mia is trying to find strength for her three children after their father and her fiancé, 31-year-old Valentin Onofre Martinez, was killed.
“A father that was there every day of his kids life. He never missed a day. He took them to school, picked them up, went to work. He worked at Home Depot nights and still got up to take his kids to school,” Mia said.
Martinez was killed on October 7. He had taken their children to a park in San Juan Capistrano and walked to a store a few blocks away to get snacks and drinks. But as he was walking back, he was stabbed multiple times.
Mia could hear the sirens. Then she got a phone call she will never forget.
“When I got here, everything was already completely blocked off with the caution tape. Hundreds of police,” she said.
Martinez was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department says its homicide and gang enforcement teams continue to investigate.
“They’re trying to paint this as something that it’s not, which is gang related. And if it is then it’s only on one side and it’s not his side,” said Mia, making it clear that Valentin was not affiliated with any gang.
On top of her grief, Mia is left with so many questions. She believes Valentin was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I need the answers because I’m just not going to be able to move past it and find closure or anything until I have all the answers and for them as well because they’re going to need answers too,” Mia said.
She hopes an arrest is made soon — giving her family the answers they so desperately need.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family during this difficult time and financial uncertainty.
The sheriff’s department said they don’t believe there is any threat to the public.
Anyone with any information about this case is urged to contact the O.C. Sheriff’s Department.
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