Man, 25, charged with murder in gang-related stabbing in Costa Mesa – Orange County Register

A Costa Mesa man has been charged with murder in connection with the stabbing death of another man in Costa Mesa earlier this week, according to court records.

Israel Antonio Valencia, 25, is accused of murdering a 22-year-old man on Tuesday, June 11.

The victim's name has not been released. Detectives said the attack was gang-related.

Costa Mesa police were called around 11 p.m. Tuesday to the 1700 block of Placentia Avenue on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and found the victim lying on the ground with stab wounds, a the police said.

Investigators learned a 19-year-old man had also been attacked by the same suspect minutes earlier near Placentia Avenue and Shalimar Drive, police said. The man was transported by family members to hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.

Detectives identified Valencia and an 18-year-old man as suspects and both were arrested Thursday, police said. The other man has not been charged. Valencia is scheduled to be arraigned in Westminster Superior Court on July 12.

Further details about a possible motive were not known.