Analy grad, 21, dies in stabbing

A 21-year-old Analy High School graduate was stabbed to death and two others suffered life-threatening injuries at a party in Santa Rosa that erupted in violence early Saturday, police said.

Benjamin Herbert Floriani, who friends said had been attending San Francisco State University, was found dead on the living-room floor of the Blair Place apartment, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said.

Two others at the party were hospitalized with severe injuries during what witnesses described as a boisterous party at the complex near West Ninth Street.

Two Santa Rosa men were arrested in connection with the stabbing. Alex Paul Hopper, 20, was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of murder, and Noah H. Minuskin, 19, was being held as an accessory, Banayat said.

Floriani, who grew up in Sebastopol, graduated from Analy in 2004.

"He was one of my son's best friends," Sebastopol resident Mary Halasz said of Floriani, who lived in Richmond but was visiting friends. "He got in a little trouble in high school, but he was past that."

"The Ben I saw was really charismatic and nice," she said. "He was really intelligent and had a bright future ahead of him."

He was named to the 2006 dean's list in the college of business at San Francisco State, according to the school's Web site.

Floriani's family in Sebastopol declined to comment.

Officers who were called to investigate a stabbing at 1:09 a.m. arrived to find Floriani dead in the apartment, Banayat said.

Floriani, who police believe was a guest at the party, was killed after a fight broke out.

Two people were transported by ambulance to hospitals shortly after police arrived, dispatchers said.

Banayat said the injuries were life-threatening and that the identities of the victims were being withheld because the case is still under investigation.

One other person was treated for injuries and released, Banayat said.

Blood had dried on the walkway to the front door Saturday afternoon, indicating the possible extent of injuries, said neighbor Carlos Ojeda.

"There's too much blood," Ojeda said as crime scene investigators took pictures and collected evidence behind police tape.

"It's all over the steps, the walls and the door," Ojeda said.

Investigators were questioning neighbors and witnesses.

Neighbors said two women and several children lived in the tan, single-story apartment, where as many as 50 people gathered late Friday night.

A neighbor who would not give his name said he returned from a trip to Petaluma around 11:30 p.m. and heard yelling coming from the apartment.

He went to sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by police going door to door with the news of the slaying.

"I heard loud arguing inside the fence," the neighbor said.

Others said they were shocked to hear that someone was killed in the normally quiet neighborhood.

"I am very upset," said April Shipman, who lives across the street. "I couldn't even sleep last night."

News researcher Vonnie Matthews contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.