Fight between Key West roommates ends in stabbing, police say
An argument between two roommates living in a cramped Key West apartment ended with a near-fatal stabbing early Sunday morning, according to police.
The violence unfolded shortly before 3 a.m. inside an apartment on Flagler Avenue, which is actually an open-air patio converted into a bedroom consisting of three beds shared by six people, police said in their report.
The man accused in the stabbing, 41-year-old Elvis Savia-Mayorga, told police that the victim, 36-year-old Juan Victor Artola-Diaz, came home argumentative and wanted to evict some of the other roommates. Savia-Mayorga disagreed, saying everyone was either family or lifelong friends, according to the report.
Savia-Mayorga said Artola-Diaz, who is his cousin, aggressively approached him, and because he felt threatened, he grabbed a large knife from a kitchenette inside the apartment, the report states.
Savia-Mayorga told police that during the struggle, he fell and cut Artola-Diaz. Witnesses in the apartment said the two fought, and Artola-Diaz was on top of Savia-Mayorga, who was holding the knife.
Another witness told police he saw the two men fighting and Savia-Mayorga stab Artola-Diaz in the back as the two fell to the floor, according to the report.
Police said Artola-Diaz had two large stab wounds to his back. Paramedics first took him to Lower Keys Medical Center, but doctors determined he was in critical condition and needed to be flown to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital for surgery.
His condition as of Monday was not immediately available.
Savia-Mayorga is being held without bond in Key West jail on an attempted murder charge.
