San Jose woman arrested after stabbing near downtown

SAN JOSE — A woman was arrested and charged with murder for fatally stabbing a man near downtown San Jose last weekend, police said.

Sylvia Aurora Ortega, 28, of San Jose, was arrested Wednesday at a residence in the city, according to a news release from the San Jose Police Department.

Ortega was booked into the Elmwood Women's Prison in Milpitas, where she was initially being held without bail, and was charged with murder on Friday. Her arraignment was pushed from Friday to Monday after she reportedly refused to be transported to court, officials said.

Court records show Ortega was on parole for a prior stabbing conviction at the time of his arrest.

Police have not released a motive for the fatal attack reported at 11:19 a.m. Sunday, with a 911 caller describing a “person on the ground” near East Santa Clara and 17th Street. Police arrived and found a man suffering from a stab wound and, with the help of medics, attempted to resuscitate him, but he died instantly.

A probable cause affidavit written by SJPD Detective Christina Jize, which accompanied the murder charge, cites a witness who told police he slept with the victim in the back seat of a car parked on 17th North Street, just north of East Santa Clara Street, when a woman later identified as Ortega approached the vehicle.