Man faces murder charge in connection with fatal stabbing

EDINBURG -- The suspected killer in the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old San Juan man over the weekend faced a murder charge Tuesday.

A second man faced assault charges in connection with the altercation, which sent three other men to area hospitals.

Jesus Felix, 21, is accused of stabbing David Vasquez, 23, outside the Veranda Apartments at 941 N. Sugar Road about 1:45 a.m. Sunday during a party. The knife struck an artery in Vasquez's thigh and he died from the wound hours later at McAllen Medical Center.

Investigators say Felix and Eduardo Saucedo, 20, both of McAllen, fought with Mark Anthony Guerra, 20, David Cardwell, 21, Alex Cardwell, 18, and Vasquez after a dispute over a tattoo police believe to be associated with a gang based in Alice.

Guerra is accused of stabbing Saucedo in the lower back, while Felix is suspected of stabbing the Cardwell brothers and Vasquez. The younger Cardwell remained in a local hospital Tuesday night recovering from surgery to repair a kidney and other internal organs the knife punctured.

The older Cardwell appeared at his Tuesday arraignment hearing in an Edinburg courtroom with a bandage covering a stab wound on his head. The other men have been released from the hospital and are recovering from their injuries.

"It is really confusing," Edinburg police Chief Quirino Muñoz said of the altercation. "The investigators have been working really hard to sort out the confusion."

In addition to the murder charge, Felix was also charged with two counts of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, for allegedly stabbing the other men. He faces up to 99 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000 if convicted on the murder charge. He remained in the Hidalgo County Jail on Tuesday evening in lieu of a $700,000 bond for all the charges.

Guerra was arraigned on one count of aggravated assault and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He remained in the Hidalgo County Jail on Tuesday evening in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

Police responded to the fight shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, finding Saucedo in a car trying to leave the area. Officers found the Cardwells and Vasquez attending to their wounds in unit No. 617 of the apartment complex, according to court records.

After the arraignment Tuesday, David Cardwell, who lived at the apartment, blamed Felix and Saucedo for starting the fight, adding he had only met the pair the night of the party.

He said the pair attacked him and his friends as they were on their way to the apartment complex's swimming pool to meet other friends. He credited Guerra as a life-saver for stabbing Saucedo.

"He's the one who kept me and my brother alive," Cardwell said. "If (Guerra) wouldn't have done what he did, me and my brother would be dead."

Shanee Taylor, the 17-year-old girlfriend of the younger Cardwell, began to cry as Felix was arraigned. She, Guerra, and her boyfriend, Alex Cardwell, were in town from Alice visiting friends and family, Taylor said.

She recalled punching Felix and pushing him from Vasquez, giving Vasquez time to run.

"We were going to leave and they just turned around and cornered us," Taylor said.

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Sean Gaffney covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.