Austin stabbing suspect pleads not guilty
Published 2:36 pm Monday, December 28, 2020
- Jaime Arquimides Vaca
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The man charged in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy pled not guilty in Mower County District Court on Tuesday.
According to court documents, Jaime Arquimides Vaca, 27, of Austin, entered pleas of not guilty to all four counts with which he was charged in relation to a stabbing incident on Dec. 15, that resulted in two people being sent to the hospital with extensive wounds.
The teenager, Julio Rodriguez, later died of his wounds in Rochester.
Vaca was charged a day later on Dec. 16 with:
- felony second-degree murder – not premeditated
- felony second-degree murder – while committing a felony – without intent
- felony second-degree attempted murder – not premeditated – with intent
- felony first-degree assault – great bodily harm.
According to the police complaints, at around 8:50 p.m. on Dec. 15, law enforcement responded to a report of people being stabbed in the 800 block of Third Avenue Northwest.
Officers arrived to find a woman lying in the front yard, bleeding severely from a stab wound to her neck. The woman directed officers to the boy, who was found inside the residence with stab wounds.
The woman indicated Vaca was the perpetrator and that he was still in the house where law enforcement eventually took Vaca into custody after finding him in the bathroom.
Five juveniles, who had been hiding upstairs, were later found and taken from the home. The juveniles also indicated that Vaca was the attacker.
When questioned by police, Vaca indicated that he had “blacked out.”
However, when asked if he knew what was happening, Vaca said he remembered and understood everything that happened. A detective then advised Vaca that the minor victim had died and Vaca said, “I’m a murderer,” and put his head down.
A trial date has yet to be scheduled.
Michael Stoll contributed to this report