STUART, Fla. — Martin County Sheriff's Office deputies are searching for a suspect accused of fatally stabbing another man at a home inside a gated community in Hobe Sound.
Chief Deputy John Budensiek said Jared Diaz and his girlfriend were visiting the victim's home at the Preserve of Hobe Sound on Saturday afternoon.
"Allegedly, Jared Diaz's girlfriend was there to do the victim's girlfriend hair," Budensiek said.
He said the victim, Robert Meadows, lived at the house with his girlfriend.
"It was almost like a rooming house," Budensiek said. "There was the owner of the house, or the person in charge of the house, and they rented out several rooms."
Budensiek said detectives, after interviewing everyone inside the home, believe Diaz and Meadows got into a fight when Diaz pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed Meadows.
"It was at least five times," Budensiek said.
Paramedics arrived and rushed Meadows to an area hospital, where he later died.
Diaz and his girlfriend had already fled by the time rescuers and deputies arrived, Budensiek said.
"All the witnesses, plus the girlfriend of the victim, told us who the suspect was right away," Budensiek said.
Jupiter police pulled over the suspect's car shortly after the incident. However, Diaz's girlfriend was the only person in it, Budensiek said.
"The girlfriend had just dropped him off at a Sunoco station off Indiantown Road, and that's the last we've seen of our suspect," he said.
Deputies are now asking for the public's help to find Diaz.
"We didn't recover the knife on scene, so we believe he's likely to still be in possession of that knife," Budensiek said. "So, we would ask, if anyone knows where he is, let us handle it."
