Police: Petaluma man, 19, admits to fatally stabbing his father

A Petaluma man was found dead Sunday with multiple stab wounds inside his home, and his 19-year-old son was arrested after he admitted to the killing, police said.

The stabbing victim was identified as James Hopkins Jr., 49, of Petaluma, according to Misti Wood, a spokesperson for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Hopkins, his son, was booked Sunday evening into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of murder. He remained in custody Monday without bail.

Investigators are trying to determine what led to the killing, but the motive remains unclear, Petaluma police Lt. Jeremy Walsh said Monday.

Authorities have not released the name of the man who died.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. Sunday, responding police found the man dead after a friend of Christopher Hopkins’ called emergency personnel to the pair’s home in the 400 block of Acadia Drive, according to Walsh. The friend told authorities Hopkins had recently made statements about self-harm.

The friend was outside the home when police arrived and he asked them to check on the occupants, Walsh said.

Police spoke with Hopkins, who they said was not wearing bloody clothing or showing signs of injury indicating he had been in a fight.

That was when Hopkins admitted to officers that he’d stabbed his father, James Hopkins Jr., who was still inside the residence, according to Walsh.

They went inside and found Hopkins’ father’s body.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Coroner Unit took the body for identification and further investigation.

The killing marked Petaluma’s second homicide of 2022.

The first was reported July 10, when police found Adolfo Martinez Pena, a 23-year-old Novato man, lying in the road in the 100 block of Keller Street downtown and he was pronounced dead.

Alejandro Sanchez-Rubalcava, 23, of Petaluma, was arrested on suspicion of murder in the case, while his twin brother, Luis Sanchez-Rubalcava, 23, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon involving a baseball bat.

Two other men have been arrested in the Martinez Pena homicide investigation, officials said.

Jacobo Benito has been charged with assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, while Dustin Arango has been charged with second-degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.

Benito and Arango also are each charged with being accessories after the fact, according to court records.

You can reach Staff Writer Mya Constantino at mya.constantino@pressdemocrat.com. @searchingformya on Twitter. You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.