Court documents: Man was stabbed in the back while assaulting pregnant woman
A 27-year-old man was stabbed several times in the back on Sept. 20 after witnesses said he would not stop assaulting a pregnant woman, according to court documents filed in the case.
During the fatal drug-fueled altercation at a Denbigh apartment, the affidavit said the woman was being forcibly squeezed — and said she couldn’t breath — when another man stabbed her assailant to get him off of her.
The man who came to the pregnant woman’s aid, Carlos Rozada, 19, was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying and was denied bond Monday.
Newport News Police went to the apartment, on Old Courthouse Way in Denbigh, at about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, after a 911 call about the stabbing that Sunday evening.
The stabbed man, Carlos Fontanez, 27, of Old Courthouse Way, was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center, where he died just after midnight.
Though Rozada would not speak with investigators, a police detective’s affidavit filed in Newport News General District Court says that two other people in the apartment at the time told them that Fontanez had been “in a struggle” with the pregnant woman in a bedroom.
“Mr. Fontanez had his arms around (the woman) ... and was squeezing her,” the affidavit said in relaying the witnesses' story. Rozada and another man tried to pull Fontanez off the woman, “but were unable to.”
The witnesses told police that the woman said she couldn’t breathe, “so Mr. Rozada left the bedroom, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and stabbed Mr. Fontanez in the back several times,” the affidavit said.
One of the witnesses told police that he, Rozada and Fontanez “had consumed and were under the influence of LSD" at the time of the fatal incident.
The affidavit said the pregnant woman said she wasn’t injured and declined medical treatment, while police said they didn’t see any signs of injury on her.
Rozada, of Tetra Court in Hampton, is now being held at the Newport News City Jail on the murder charge. He appeared for a bond hearing Monday requested by his attorney, Scott Ehrenworth.
Ehrenworth contended at Monday’s hearing that Rozada took action that night in order to protect the pregnant woman — his sister-in-law — and her unborn child from harm.
Rozada appeared by teleconference from the jail, while his mother, father, brother and another sister-in-law also testified on his behalf. A Spanish language interpreter translated.
General District Judge Scott Stein said he was impressed with the family’s testimony, but denied the bond request.
The judge said Rozada had not “overcome the presumption” in Virginia law that those charged with murder are held pending trial. He also pointed out that Fontanez was stabbed six times in the back during the drug-fueled incident.
Rozada, who court records say worked at a Newport News furniture store and has no criminal history, has a probable cause hearing scheduled for Dec. 14.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ehrenworth will appeal the bond decision to Newport News Circuit Court.
Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
———
©2020 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Visit the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) at www.dailypress.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
