BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A trail of blood several blocks long through Wasco led investigators to a man accused in a deadly May stabbing, according to court documents obtained by 17 News.
Aaron Joel Garcia, 22, is charged with the murder of Jose Aleman, a 24-year-old father of two who was left for dead in front of a home on Broadway Street.
On May 3, at around 10:35 PM, Aleman suffered from “deep lacerations” to his upper body, including his head and neck. Aleman possibly had been in a fight with Garcia, according to an interview with a second suspect, whose name is redacted in the reports viewed by 17 News. Wasco-area deputies responded, and Aleman was airlifted to Delano Regional Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
According to the court documents, deputies spotted a blood trail and followed it for several blocks, from Broadway to the area of Sunset Street and Oak Avenue. Surveillance video along the path, as well as witness interviews, led investigators to Garcia as the suspect.
The next day, detectives learned Garcia had a misdemeanor warrant for a separate case, and found him at his grandmother’s home on Poso Drive. The report notes the home was directly in the path of the blood trail. Garcia was found wearing the same clothes as the night before, with cuts on both hands and blood on his head and ear. Among evidence recovered from the home was a double-edged blade with a wooden handle found in a trash can. After an interview with investigators, where he didn’t speak about fighting or stabbing anyone, Garcia was arrested for the misdemeanor warrant.
On May 7, a rapid DNA comparison found a match between the blood swabbed from Garcia’s ear and a blood sample taken from Aleman’s body. The next day, Garcia was re-arrested on suspicion of murder while in custody. 31-year-old Angel Soto was arrested on May 11 and accused of being an accessory in the case. Both are due back in court June 21.
