Santa Maria stabbing victim becomes city’s latest homicide

A Santa Maria stabbing victim who died from the wounds he received in a Saturday afternoon incident is the city’s eighth homicide this year.

Santa Maria police officers were dispatched just before 5 p.m. to the 900 block of West McElhaney Avenue, where they found one male victim.

The injured person was initially taken to Marian Regional Medical Center, but reportedly was to be transported to Santa Barbara for treatment, according to emergency dispatch reports.

Police confirmed more than two hours after the incident that the victim had been pronounced dead at Marian.

He was identified Sunday as Luis Alberto Castaneira, 18, of Santa Maria.

No arrests had been made, and officers were investigating the homicide, police said Saturday night.

The fatal stabbing marked the eighth homicide in the city for 2016, with six of those occurring in the first month of the year.

A double shooting July 4 left a man dead and his brother injured, marking the seventh homicide in the city.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Santa Maria stabbing victim becomes city’s latest homicide."