A man who admitted to stabbing a father-of-two to death in Encanto said there were at least two months of threats and hostile texts leading up to the fatal stabbing last month.
Miguel Ramos, 20, told NBC 7 San Diego he has nothing to hide, and he wants to set the record straight and tell his side of the story. Ramos said the fatal stabbing was in self defense.
"It's not the, I'm not able to do something like that, but when somebody comes and invades your home with your family in there, and kids, I mean, what man wouldn't do anything to protect their family," he said.
The killing happened early on Sunday, Oct. 9, when Ramos fatally stabbed 44-year-old Robert Acevedo in front of his girlfriend, Sarah. The victim was a Lemon Grove resident and father-of-two.
Sarah was married to Acevedo and had an 8-year-old son with him. She began dating Ramos while the two were separated.
Ramos claimed the victim had been taunting him for months leading up to the incident and sent him threatening texts. In those texts, Acevedo said he would hurt Ramos and his wife.
Ramos' attorney said Acevedo sent threatening texts to Sarah the night of the incident.
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One of them reads, "Tonight is not going to be good for him. Everybody has a routine, I watch, I learn, I know."
The night of the stabbing, Ramos said, Acevedo and at least one other man had gone to his home with the intent to harm him. NBC 7 contacted the family of Robert Acevedo and they declined to comment or talk to NBC 7 for the story.
According to Ramos, Acevedo came to his home and tried to fight him. Fearing for his life, Ramos ran inside, grabbed a fishing knife, and fatally stabbed him in the front yard.
"When I left I couldn't even drive because I was still shooken up about the situation. I was driving around and I sat in the car and I just was thinking to myself," Ramos said. "I'm in disbelief. It's so surreal. I didn't know what to do. I was scared."
Ramos says he still feels like his life is being threatened by people who knew Acevedo, and he wants it to stop.
The 20-year-old suspect turned himself in to authorities the following day, San Diego Police said. However, the DA declined to file criminal charges against him. They agreed it was a case of self defense.
Ramos said he is still haunted by the killing and what happened that night.
"It just seems so surreal, I've never experienced something like that in my life, so just the fact that it happened. After it happened I was stuck, I didn't move from where I was, I was shaking, I was...I'm not ever able to do something like that," he said.
Ramos' attorney, Vikas Bajaj, told NBC 7 there was not enough for the DA's office to charge Ramos with murder. The San Diego Police Department's Homicide Unit said there were no other suspects involved in the murder.
