Politics & Government
2 Men Charged With Murder For San Leandro Stabbing
This was the first murder in San Leandro in 2018.
SAN LEANDRO, CA — Two 23-year-old men were charged today with murder and premeditated attempted murder for a stabbing in downtown San Leandro on late Tuesday night that left one man dead and another man in critical condition at a hospital.
Alex Fernandez of Oakland and Michael Mendozaroche of Alameda were arraigned today and are scheduled to return to court next Thursday to enter pleas for the stabbing at Washington Plaza, at 1499 Washington Ave., shortly after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
San Leandro police Lt. Isaac Benabou said Fernandez and Mendozaroche and the two victims, 25-year-old Michael Kittrell Smith and his 36-year-old friend, found themselves in the parking lot after they left a
nearby restaurant and bar after it closed.
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Benabou said video surveillance and witness statements indicate that the four men engaged in an altercation but he said police don't know the reason for the dispute.
He said the altercation escalated into a fight in the parking lot involving all four men and the fight turned deadly when the victims were stabbed multiple times, leaving Smith dead and his friend critically injured.
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Fernandez and Mendozaroche left the area in their vehicle after the attack but were arrested at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office alleges in its charging documents that Mendozaroche was the man who stabbed both Smith and his friend, using a weapon described as a knife, scissors or cutting device.
San Leandro police Officer Keith Geiger wrote in a probable cause statement that Mendozaroche admitted that he was involved in a fistfight with Smith and his friend and claimed that he was stabbed by one of them before he fled with Fernandez.
But Mendozaroche denied stabbing anyone and then asked for an attorney, according to Geiger.
Fernandez declined to speak to police at all, Geiger said.
Prosecutors allege that Fernandez has a prior conviction for unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle in 2014.
Benabou said the fatal stabbing is uncommon in San Leandro and Smith's death is the city's first homicide this year.
He said San Leandro only had two homicides in 2017.
— Bay City News; Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch
