California dad stabbed to death in front of 6-year-old son, no charges filed

Father stabbed to death in front of 6-year-old son

Stephen Mendez was stabbed in the heart at a Tustin gas station, right in front of his 6-year-old son. The family says Mendez was standing up for the gas station clerk when he was attacked.

TUSTIN, Calif. - An Orange County family is demanding action after a 27-year-old father was recently stabbed to death, right in front of his young son.

Stephen Mendez was killed on May 24. Police have arrested one man accused of the stabbing, but the Orange County District Attorney's Office hasn't decided whether they'll file charges yet.

What we know:

The stabbing happened around 5 p.m. on May 24, at the 76 gas station on Edinger Avenue in Tustin. Officers found Mendez there, stabbed in the chest. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital, where he died.

Mendez's family said he was being a good Samaritan when he was attacked, that a man was harassing and threatening the gas station clerk, and Mendez stepped in to defend the clerk. That's when he was stabbed.

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What's next:

Police arrested a man, identified as 51-year-old Jose Herrera of Pomona, on suspicion of murder.

The DA's office told FOX 11 that the case is under review, and they haven't decided whether they will be filing charges.

What they're saying:

"My heart just got ripped out of me," said Desiree Aguilar, Mendez's mother. "Nobody wants to bury a son. If I could give my son my heart, I would have given my son my heart to be here today.

Mendez's family is demanding the DA press charges, saying they won't stay silent if the man accused of killing their loved one walks free.

"I feel that it's heartbreaking, and it's sad," said family friend Annette Caraveo. "He was a 27-year-old young man that was doing so good. [He was] just worried about his family. Took his kid to the park, came to get something to drink, walked into a confrontation here."