A 25-year-old man was charged Thursday with stabbing his friend and his friend’s mother in their Lake Forest home.
Jose Daniel Zuniga Castro was charged with two felony counts of attempted murder with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of battery.
He is accused of stabbing a 69-year-old woman and her 31-year-old son in their Lake Forest home on Tuesday, said Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Breckner.
Zuniga Castro got into an argument with his own mother and slapped her Tuesday morning, Breckner alleged. The slap resulted in the charge of battery.
He then walked down to his friend’s nearby home at Rue Fontaine and Rue Monet in the Foothill Ranch area, where he explained to his friend that he was kicked out of his home. An altercation ensued in which Zuniga Castro got a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his friend and his friend’s mother, Breckner alleged.
The victims were rushed to an area hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, Breckner said.
Deputies, who were called to the scene at 7:30 a.m., set up a perimeter to catch Zuniga Castro, but he slipped away. A deputy on a motorcycle in Rancho Santa Margarita later spotted him and took him into custody, he said.