July 29, 2008
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

14-YEAR-OLD CHARGED IN STABBING NEAR DELAND 

An investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office into the July 20 stabbing of a teenager near DeLand resulted in the arrest Tuesday of a 14-year-old Putnam County boy. Francisco Arroyo of Crescent City is facing felony charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm. 

Arroyo is charged with pointing a gun at 15-year-old Fernando Lagunas and then stabbing Lagunas in the chest during a fight outside a party at a home on South Woodward Avenue. Lagunas sustained two deep puncture wounds and underwent surgery at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach for a collapsed lung. According to witnesses, the fight broke out when the victim and two relatives showed up at the party uninvited and were told they weren’t welcome to stay. Arroyo and Lagunas had quarreled in the past over a girl, and the argument ignited again at the party. Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene at about 1:23 a.m., but when they arrived the fight was over, Lagunas was bleeding from stab wounds to the chest and Arroyo had fled the area. The victim has since been discharged from the hospital and is recovering from his wounds.

Sheriff’s investigators Trever Henderson and David McNamara picked up the case, which led directly to Arroyo. After presenting their findings to Circuit Court Judge James R. Clayton, the judge issued a juvenile pick-up order on Tuesday. Deputies in Putnam County picked up Arroyo at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday and delivered him to the juvenile detention facility.