Santa Rosa man fatally stabbed, 3 people arrested, police say

A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man was fatally stabbed Wednesday night after an altercation in the parking lot of a convenience store in southwest Santa Rosa, police said Thursday.

Three members of one Santa Rosa family, an adult and two juveniles, believed responsible were arrested on suspicion of murder.

The killing is Santa Rosa’s first homicide of 2023.

The Santa Rosa Police Department responded around 9:30 p.m. to a reported fight at Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road, according to a news release from the department.

Police are still investigating who was involved and what led to the altercation outside the 7-Eleven at 370 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Brandon Matthies said.

Emergency personnel found the man, who had multiple stab wounds to his torso, unresponsive. He was lying on the north side of Sebastopol Road, across the intersection from the convenience store. He was rushed to Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa where he later died, according to police.

Witnesses told police they saw two men flee the scene in a green Honda sedan and gave a partial description of the license plate..

Officers searched the area and found the Honda about 20 minutes after they arrived at the scene, according to Matthies.

The unoccupied sedan was parked in the driveway of a residence in the 100 block of West Barham Avenue, about a 1/2 mile from the convenience store. The officers arrested the suspects after they looked in the residence and found the two juveniles and a third person, who matched descriptions provided by witnesses, officials said.

Investigators interviewed the suspects, who are related to each other, and learned that they drove to the intersection of Dutton and Sebastopol “to target the victim,” police said. Officials added that after two of the suspects ran to the Honda, they were driven away by the third suspect.

Police are still investigating why the victim was targeted, Matthies said.

There is no evidence the incident is gang related.

Authorities said two of the suspects are 17 and declined to release their names because they are minors. The third suspect is Enrique Sanchez, 52, police said.

Police declined to say how Sanchez and the two teens are related.

Sanchez was booked into the Sonoma County jail and the two juveniles were booked into the Sonoma County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Sanchez is being held without bail because he was booked on one count of suspected murder, according to the jail.

Authorities said the victim’s name would be released following notification of his next of kin.

An investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to contact Santa Rosa police through the online Tip Line: www.srcity.org/CrimeTips.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.