Police have arrested a Las Cruces man suspected in last week’s suspicious death on Karen Avenue.
David Joseph Padilla, 33, of the 2200 block of Dona Ana Road, is charged with a third-degree felony count of voluntary manslaughter.
Shortly before 7 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1, Las Cruces police were dispatched to the report of an unattended death in a mobile home on the 300 block of Karen Avenue. Officers arrived to find 49-year-old William Dean deceased in the kitchen of the mobile home. Police found evidence that Dean was involved in an altercation and suffered a stab wound to his right hand.
Police discovered a blood trail that appeared to end where Dean was located. Officers followed the blood trail that led them to an area outside of Padilla’s residence on the 2200 block of Dona Ana Road. Investigators also found evidence of an altercation near Padilla’s home including broken bottles, two bloody ballcaps and a pair of broken eyeglasses.
Las Cruces police detectives believe Dean went to Padilla’s home on the evening of Oct. 31. The two engaged in a physical altercation where Padilla allegedly struck Dean with a broken bottle. Dean suffered injuries to his head and right hand. Detectives believe Dean walked back to his residence, less than 1,000 feet away, where he tried to tend to his injuries.
Dean succumbed to his injuries at the mobile home on Karen Avenue.
Detectives determined one of the ballcaps from the altercation site and the eyeglasses belonged to Padilla. Detectives interviewed Padilla who acknowledged his involvement in the fight with Dean.
Padilla was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 6, and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he is initially being held without bond.